The Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches
by UlulareAdLunam
Summary: The Marauders didn't have all the fun at Hogwarts. In her first year at Hogwarts, Lily and three friends find four enchanted brooches in the Forbidden Forest. The brooches bond the girls in their early Hogwarts years and for the rest of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: The Marauders didn't have all the fun at Hogwarts. Lily Evans and her friends find four enchanted brooches. The Enchanted Brooches bond the girls in their early Hogwarts years and for the rest of their lives. This is their adventure.

**Follows the young lives of Minerva McGonagall, Lily Evans, Rei Scorch, and Maggie Mirranoy as they journey through Hogwarts and all the roads after. In this fic, (young) McGonagall is one year older than Lily. Go with it. I also just read McGonagall's back story from Pottermore, so I will be incorporating as much of that as I can into this story. I am also incorporating as much of Lily and Severus's story and conversations into this story as possible (aka, I do not own those snitches of conversation). I don't own anything except for Rei, Maggie, Sean and John, so please do not attempt to sue me.

_**Chapter One: Beginnings**_

_**Lily**_

"Ok, Mom, I'll be fine!" exclaimed Lily Evans, trying to wriggle away from her mother's suffocating hug. Lily tried to go over and hug her sister, Petunia; however, Petunia stood with her arms crossed and a look of disgust mingled with jealousy on her face. She made no move to even speak to Lily. Sighing, Lily turned away. She shouldn't think about Petunia hating her, not now, not when she was about to get on board. Lily tried to look for her friend, Severus, but couldn't seem to find him. How was she going to get onto the platform? At that moment, Lily saw a young boy with an owl walk through the wall between platforms 9 and 10. 'Guess this is it,' Lily thought and she ran for it.

After Lily found an empty compartment on the train, she broke down in tears, thinking about Petunia. Would things ever be the same again? A short time later, two rowdy boys came in. She later found out that their names were Sirius Black and James Potter. Later still, Severs Snape finally came inside and found Lily, sitting down opposite her. They talked for a little while about what was bothering Lily and eventually got into a conversation with the other two boys about which houses were best.

After Sirius insulted Severus by saying he was neither "brawny nor brainy" and James roared with laughter, Lily decided it was time for herself and Severus to find another compartment. Severus and Lily walked into a compartment that contained two girls. One was a brunette with thick, curly hair reaching down to her shoulder blades and intense sky blue eyes. The other had ebony hair, tied in a loose bun with a few tendrils framing her face. Her green eyes were piercing and sharp. The girl with ebony hair was talking about how she had spent the summer at her father's and that was why she was on the train. Both were already wearing their Hogwarts uniforms, with Gryffindor crests. When the girls heard the door click open, they looked up from their conversation.

"Hi," said the brunette, "I haven't seen you here before, so you two must be first years." At Lily's nod of confirmation the brunette continued. "I'm a second year, so if you have any questions you can ask me. My name is Maggie Mirranoy and this is Minerva McGonagall."

The other looked up and said, "Hello. You can sit down with us." She spread her hand in the air over the seat, trying to signal for them to sit. Lily took the seat indicated and introduced herself and Severus. "Are you excited?" asked Minerva.

Severus nodded while Lily replied, "Bordering on petrified."

Maggie laughed. "I was so nervous that I tripped on my way to get sorted. Minerva had it easy. She grew up at the castle. Her mom is the Transfiguration professor."

"Not that easy!" scoffed Minerva. "I was a Hatstall! It took five and half minutes for me to get sorted. How embarrassing."

"What is a Hatstall?" Lily asked.

"When the Sorting Hat can't decide where to put you. It kept going back and forth between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, which is where I ended up"

"Does that happen often?" asked Severus.

"It depends on the person. My friend John had a similar issue, also with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. He said his father had the same problem. Do you two know what Houses you'd like?"

"No idea," Lily said. "I'm a Muggle born," she added.

Smiling kindly, Maggie replied, "I was raised Muggle. My mom was actually a witch but never told me until I got my letter! Don't ever let anyone tell you that blood is a big deal. They're just prats. "

"What about you, Severus?"

"Slytherin," said Snape, shyly. He wasn't very good with people.

"Narcissa Black, she's in our year, is in Slytherin. She's really sweet, so if you need any help, you can always ask her," Minerva.

"Except when she's with Lucius," muttered Maggie, under her breath.

Minerva rolled her eyes. The four talked the rest of the way to Hogwarts. The girls got along really well, but Severus seemed content to just sit and listen.

When they stepped off the train at Hogwarts, Lily heard a husky voice over the crowd yell, "First years this way! Yer with me!" The man that stepped from the shadows was the largest man Lily had ever seen; he had hands the size of trash bin lids and feet the size of dolphins. Lily looked questioningly from the giant man to Maggie and Minerva.

"Don't worry," said Minerva, "That's just Hagrid the gamekeeper. First years enter a special way."

Lily nodded and she and Severus followed the giant man down to the edge of a massive lake where rowboats were waiting for them. Severus and Lily got into a boat already taken by a boy with sandy hair and slightly tired amber eyes. Suddenly a flash of bright, fiery hair flew into the boat with them.

"Hi!" said the girl attached to the flaming hair. "My name is Rei Esmeralda Scorch. Who are you?"

Lily, the first to regain her composure after the startling entry said, "I'm Lily Evans and this is Severus Snape." She looked to the sandy haired boy.

"My name is Remus Lupin." He said shyly.

"Nice to meet you all!" said Rei. She chattered up until they rounded the bin. Then the castle came into view. Lily had never seen a more magnificent site; it was enormous, had uncountable towers and torrents shooting up into the sky, and looked rather dark and looming in the evening dusk. They kept approaching the castle, finally sailing through an entrance in the rock, past a curtain of ivy vines concealing it. The boats parked themselves on the shore and Hagrid led them up to huge, bronze doors. After he knocked loudly three times, the doors opened revealing a tall witch who was standing in the hallway. As the light shown upon her features, Lily noticed that she greatly resembled Minerva.

"Thank you Hagrid. I'll take them from here," said the tall witch.

"Yer welcome Professor McGonagall." Hagrid tipped his head and waved to the first years. "Good luck, kids!"

The doors of the Entrance Hall shut with his exit. After what seemed like an eternity Professor McGonagall lead the students to the Great Hall where four tables were set up to represent the four houses and a teacher's table was at the front of the room. Placed in front of the teacher table was a stool with a hat sitting upon it. The hat sprang to life and sang a little song about the four Houses, then fell silent again. Professor McGonagall lined up the students, walked up to the stool with the hat on it, and pulled out a long scroll from her robes.

"Avery, Andrew!" she called. When he sat on the stool, she dropped the hat on his head.

"Slytherin!" yelled the hat. The boy walked to the Slytherin table amidst cheering. Lily waited nervously until she heard, "Evans, Lily!" She walked up, being careful not to trip, and sat on the stool. She felt the hat drop on her head and what seemed like hours later the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!"

She walked to the table where Maggie and Minerva were clapping loudly. She noticed Sirius move to make room for her, but decided to ignore him and sat with the girls instead. By the end of the sorting, Rei, James, and Remus had joined her at the Gryffindor table and Severus was sitting at the Slytherin table. Even though Severus, her best friend, wasn't with her, Lily felt like she was home.

_**Maggie**_

Maggie Mirranoy sighed. After such a stressful summer, it felt good to be back home at Hogwarts. At the feast, she sat with Minerva McGonagall, her best friend. The two met at the Sorting in first year and hit off instantly.

Maggie grinned as Dumbledore gave another one of his unusual speeches and sent everyone off to bed. Her smile widened when Minerva was pulled to the side and engaged in conversation by Sean Sommers, a Gryffindor third year. "Ooh, girl!" exclaimed Rei, who had an odd American accent. "Minerva's got a beau!"

Laughing, Maggie replied, "Yeah, not that she'll ever admit it."

"He's cute," Lily commented. She spotted Severus Snape marching downstairs with the other Slytherin and waved to him, motioning that they would talk more tomorrow. Snape nodded and yawned, and then continued his walk, talking to a couple of other boys who looked his age.

"I've already got one picked out," stated Rei, staring up ahead of them.

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "You're only eleven, right? Slow down some."

"No, for real, he's my soul mate."

"And who is he?" asked Lily.

"A certain species called Remus Lupin. Oh, no." Rei ducked because Remus turned around, apparently having heard his name. James Potter tugged on Remus' sleeve, and he started talking again.

Lily and Maggie both burst out laughing. Maggie regained her composure first, asking, "So he's your soul mate, but you're scared to talk to him?"

"Well, how crazy would it sound if I said that to him? Scare him off on the first night, I don't think so!" exclaimed Rei. Maggie shook her head and waited as the prefects told everyone the password, "Aslan's Pride".

"Better hope he's nothing like that James Potter he's with!" exclaimed Lily, remembering the train.

Maggie stretched and smiled, seeing the roaring fire and the plump red couches of the Common Room. "Night, Rei. Good night, Lily. I'll see you girls in the morning." After they replied, Maggie practically ran upstairs to her dorm, and flopped down on the bed. She left a light on for Minerva and Selene, and then changed into a tank top and pajama pants, lying down, and thinking of previous events.

After living for twelve years in a Muggle neighborhood, Maggie's mother had just decided to move to Godric's Hollow, a mostly wizarding neighborhood. Granted, her mother had gotten a well paying job at the Ministry of Magic, but that didn't make things easier. It had been hard enough to explain to her former school friends about where she was during the academic year, but over the summer she had to come up with a reason why they couldn't visit her. It hurt lying to them, but she couldn't tell everyone the truth; after all, who would believe it?

The hoot of a black owl at the open window almost caused her to fall out of bed. Maggie frowned as she caught sight of a piece of paper and a small box sitting on her nightstand. She rolled her eyes, seeing a Ravenclaw crest on the back of the note and also, some familiar writing. "Welcome home!" said the note, and it was signed, simply, _John_. The package happened to be a box of Maggie's favorite chocolate. She had met John Flitwick in detention last year. They had both been late to a class (John was late for Potions; Maggie, Defense Against the Dark Arts), John having slept in, and Maggie having been lost (it was the first week). Both had been running when John dropped a book and stopped to pick it up, causing Maggie to run straight into him. John's Potions homework exploded, as did Maggie's, causing the entire hallway to collapse in the middle, complete with big crater. The two got the blame placed on them by Filch and ended up polishing the entire Trophy Room together. They had been friends ever since.

Maggie scribbled a quick thank you, and attached it to John's owl, which promptly flew off. John's father worked at Hogwarts, teaching Charms, and he introduced Minerva and Maggie to his best friend, Sean Sommers. The group quickly became a foursome and were rarely seen apart toward the end of the year. Maggie shut her curtains and dove under the covers. Sleep sounded like a really good idea.

_**Minerva**_

Minerva McGonagall woke up early the next morning to finish reading the third chapter of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration: Level 2_, before her first transfiguration lesson of the year. Although her mother was the professor for the class, Minerva did not get cut any slack. If anything, Minerva had to work harder than everyone else to prove to her classmates that she was not getting special treatment from Isobel McGonagall. This was fine with Minerva since she loved the subject and seemed to have a natural ability for it.

"Why are you up so early?" mumbled Selene Crimsonhold, Minerva and Maggie's other roommate, from her four-poster bed.

"I have to finish reading this chapter for class today."

"Transfiguration? Come on Minnie, we won't get as far as you've already read today, I'm sure. Besides you're the best in the class at it anyway."

"Only because I read and practice." replied Minerva. "Let me finish. We're going to wake up Maggie if we keep talking."

"Too late," grunted Maggie.

By this time, breakfast was being served in the Great Hall, so they got dressed and went down. Professor Breaux, the current Deputy Headmistress, was busy handing out schedules to the Gryffindor house. Dumbledore had announced last night that Professor Breaux was taking over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position this year since no one seemed to want that post. A new witch, Professor Sinistra was now teaching Breaux's old post of Astronomy.

"Oh man! Double Potions AND double Charms with the Slytherins!" exclaimed Maggie. Minerva and Selene groaned.

"Well… at least that's not today…" said Minerva. The Great Hall was clearing out by this time. A third year girl with dark, lidded eyes and a mass of bushy black hair passed by the Gryffindor table and glared at Minerva and Maggie, who took no notice.

"Who was that?" asked Lily who had been talking about classes with Rei.

"That's Bellatrix Black," said Minerva with a look of deep dislike. "She hates anyone who isn't a pureblood or those who associate with Muggle borns."

"Yup, she's a real piece of work," said Sirius Black's voice behind them, "Fun to mess with at reunions though."

Hearing this, Bellatrix turned sharply and said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Well, at least I am not a disgrace to MY family and on the verge of being disowned." She then turned on her heel and walked out the door without a glance back.

"Wow, she hears like a bat!" Sirius then left rather quickly also, not giving the girls the chance to see him slightly upset.

"What was that about?" asked Rei, she and Lily looked confused.

Minerva glanced at Selene who glanced at Maggie who said, "Well, Sirius is kind of the white sheep of the Black family."

"Wow, your play of words is excellent," said Selene.

Maggie tossed her hair jokingly. "Don't be jealous."

"Anyway," said Minerva in a low voice. "Bellatrix isn't really fond of Sirius. He doesn't agree with his family on their pureblood views, there's apparently a big rift between him and the rest of his family, at least from what Bellatrix was spreading around last year. Him being put in Gryffindor was just icing."

"Icing and sheep?" Rei said, shaking her head. "You and Maggie should write fiction."

Minerva gave Rei a small smile and continued eating. Bellatrix really got under her skin. Blood shouldn't matter. Everyone was here because they all had abilities. Bellatrix was also a kind of Slytherin enthusiast, and she also had a deep hatred of all things Gryffindor. Her ignorance bothered Minerva to no end. She said good bye to everyone as she, Maggie and Selene went to their first class, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Minnie M!" exclaimed Breaux as Minerva walked into the classroom. Minerva shut her eyes and her face flushed in embarrassment; yet another drawback of growing up in the castle - ridiculous nicknames. Breaux, however, had nicknames for everyone, so it wasn't as bad as it could be. Professor Breaux had transferred from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts, something about the French not "getting" her. Minerva sighed and sat down beside Maggie. It was going to be a long year, she decided.

_**Rei**_

Rei Scorch was not having a good day. She and Lily had gotten lost on the way to their first class, Potions. Luckily, Professor Slughorn seemed nice enough. He started out class by taking roll, talking briefly to students whose surnames sounded familiar. He stopped cold when he saw Sirius Black's name on the roll under Gryffindor, thinking that there had been a mistake. He ambled down the list and eventually got to "Rei Scorch, eh? Your parents just moved here to work as Aurors? I knew your dad when he was in school. Good man, good man."

Rei smiled and nodded, wondering just how much he knew about her family. Rei had a bit of a secret. Her mother, while a witch, was also half fire fairy, an almost extinct species. Contrary to popular belief, fairies can pass as humans; this is what Rei's grandmother, Esmeralda, did for most of her life. The fairy families were grouped by elements. In Rei's family, their wings were made of fire. Back in America, Rei had the reputation of a pyromaniac, because, well, things often caught fire when she couldn't control her magic. As if moving from one continent to the other wasn't hard enough, she now had to keep her secret from everyone here.

"We will be working on something very simple today," said Slughorn. "It's a potion that cures boils. It's on page seven in your book, about half way down. Groups of four, I think. Evans, Lupin, Scorch and Snape, why don't you get into a group? Potter, Avery, Pettigrew…" He continued on until everyone was in a group and then put some notes on the board for them.

Rei and Lily moved over to Remus Lupin's table, meeting Snape there. Rei tripped and when her hand touched the table, it instantly started to blaze. "Sorry! Sorry! That actually happens a lot!" she cried. Slughorn just laughed and put out the fire with water from his wand. Lily stood with her eyes wide, Snape with a knowing smirk, but Remus simply said, "Just last week, I turned my mom's meatloaf into an ice sculpture. It was really hot in my house," he added sheepishly.

Rei grinned at Remus with a look of deep appreciation. Lily glanced from one to the other, while Snape was oblivious to anything other than the potion he had already started on. "Hey, wait up Sev," said Lily, as she and the others started reading the potion from the book. They got through with their first potions class without any other major incidents. Slughorn announced to the class that Rei, Lily, Remus, and Severus' potion was the best and gave each of them five points for their houses. Rei knew that it was only because of Severus that the potion was good. She had almost put in the wrong ingredient and Severus quickly snatched it up before it hit the liquid in the cauldron.

The Gryffindors' next class was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Rei thought she might die of boredom within the first ten minutes. Binns was an old ghost who lectured with a monotone voice that could put even the most attentive student to sleep. By the time classes were over for the day Rei was exhausted. On the way back to the dorm she passed by Remus talking with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. They were talking in hushed whispers and shut up as soon as they saw Rei. She glanced over at them with a questioning look. "Hey Rei! Cool trick in Potions today!" said Sirius in a clear attempt to act normal. "It wasn't really a trick... but thanks." said Rei, "I'm beat, so I'll see you guys later." She walked off again and glanced back to see them whispering to each other again. _I wonder what they're up to? _she thought to herself. But when she got to her four poster, she forgot all about the boys and drifted into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See first Chapter.

ALSO! For those of you wondering, yes I am actually the SAME author as GoldenWolf88. I just lost access to my GoldenWolf account. :)

_**Chapter Two: Mysteries Abound**_

_**Lily**_

Lily Evans had never really disliked anyone in her short eleven years. At least, she hadn't until she met James Potter. How could someone be so arrogant? He prattled on endlessly all through Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lily felt like ripping her hair out whenever he started to talk about some Quidditch game. What the heck was Quidditch anyway? "Evans? Evans? OI LILY!" exclaimed Breaux. Lily looked at her sheepishly. Loathing was very time consuming. 

Later on, at dinner, Lily walked past James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew all talking conspiratorially in a corner of the Gryffindor table. 

"What's up with them?" Lily asked Rei. 

"I don't know, but it's highly suspicious and I suggest we spy." Rei grinned evilly. 

Maggie shook her head and let out a good natured laugh. "Rei, you're a fireball." Rei looked slightly uncomfortable but then continued telling the girls about her spying plan. 

Lily sighed and dug into her food. Minerva eventually showed up, and then introduced the other girls to Sean Sommers. He gave everyone a dazzling smile and said "Hello". 

Rei and Lily caught each other's glance, and Rei pointed to Sean's eyes, then to the sky, and made a fake swoon, causing Lily to almost fall off her chair laughing. Lily looked up in shock when an a tall boy from Ravenclaw made his way over to the Gryffindor table and plopped down as if it was his house. She didn't think that people from other houses could switch tables. "Who are you?" asked Rei of the stranger; he had shaggy black hair, strong hands, and eyes the shade of the night sky. 

"What? Maggie hasn't told you about me?" In a dramatic sweep, he put his hand over his heart and pretended to be devastated. "I'm John Flitwick," he said, after a few minutes. Lily looked at the tiny Professor Flitwick at the staff table and then back at John. 

"As in Professor Flitwick?" 

"My dad," smiled John. Maggie rolled her eyes. 

"We have no idea how John got to be so tall. John, this is Lily and right beside her is Rei. Be nice." 

"I'm always nice." Sean burst in, "You are not! You're a horrible excuse for a person!" 

"You're just mad because I beat you in Quidditch last year." 

"What the heck is Quidditch?" Lily demanded. She was tired of feeling like she was the last to know everything here. She vaguely remembered Severus mentioning something like that, but it was a long, long time ago. John and Sean immediately set off talking about teams and whatnot. Minerva, however, gave Lily a much simpler explanation. 

"Wait. I have to learn to ride a broom? In front of people?" Lily groaned. "I hate heights!" 

John smiled. "You'll be fine. Maggie and Minerva were both really nervous about it their first year -" 

"And then they started 'borrowing' brooms to go flying at night," laughed Sean.

"DID NOT!" exclaimed both Maggie and Minerva. Lily laughed. She could really get used to this place. Most of the Gryffindors, at least Maggie and Minerva, had this sibling dynamic. They just all seemed so close. Her smile faded, thinking of Petunia. Would they ever be that close again?

_**Maggie**_

While Lily was worrying about her sister, Maggie was worry-free in Defense Against the Dark Arts. This class had always seemed to be her strong point and she loved it. Much like Minerva was with transfiguration, Maggie would read her Defense book for the fun of it. After gaining ten points for her House, Maggie was in a great mood leaving class. "Maggie! Minerva!" Rei Scorch ran up to them in the hallway. "Ok, so I overheard the guys talking in Charms today and they said something about 'let's do it tonight'. I'm going to listen in more closely next period and see if I can figure out what they're doing or where they're meeting. Keep ya posted!"

As she ran off in the other direction, Minerva turned to Maggie. "Maggie... we're not really going to go spy on them are we? I mean, Rei's the one with a crush on that Remus kid, so why do the rest of us have to go?"

"Well I suppose we could bow out. We do have that ridiculously long essay for Binns to write tonight." Truthfully, Maggie didn't want to go either.

"Ok, great!" Minerva cheered up at this. "Stalking around in bushes is not my idea of fun..."

Maggie nodded. She and Minerva had free period next, so they went to the library to write the dreaded essay for Professor Binns. After an hour, Maggie threw down her quill in a strange mix of disgust and accomplishment. "I am done!"

"How?" demanded Minerva.

"I am skilled in the art of turning rubbish into something that sounds good!" Maggie exclaimed. She saw Snape walk in, looking at bit lost. "Hey, Sev!" she said. He glanced over, as if expecting someone to hex him, but relaxed when he saw a familiar face. He walked over to Maggie and Minerva.

"Hello. What are you two up to?"

"Three foot essay," laughed Maggie. "What are you looking for?"

Snape said the name of a book in the restricted Defense Against the Dark Arts section, saying that Breaux mentioned it.

"That's in the restricted section. You can only get books from there if you have a note or if you're taking an advanced class... usually seventh year."

Severus stayed and talked for a while and then walked out, saying he had to run to Potions or else he would be late.

"Bye," Minerva said. "He seemed really nervous."

Maggie watched Snape walk out. "Lily told me that a bunch of the Slytherins are being rude to him for hanging around with her and Gryffindors in general. And some of the people in our house are as well. I don't see the big deal. He seems like a nice kid."

_**Minerva**_

Minerva went to bed that night thinking about what Maggie had said in the library. Why did there have to be the great rift between the Houses? Sure, Slytherin had turned out more dark wizards than any other house, but still, some of them were nice enough. However, these people must end up in Slytherin for a reason... after all, the Hat chose them. Minerva rolled over with the last thought of the night, that it would be very interesting to see which of her Slytherin schoolmates turned out to be dark wizards...

The next morning at breakfast Rei and Lily found Minerva, Maggie, and Selene and sat down with them. Rei, looking, disgruntled, said, "Well, I found out nothing..."

"We did see Professor Dumbledore and Professor Tenet overseeing some wizards planting a nasty looking tree in the distance though." said Lily, bemused. "Its branches were flailing around as if they were arms trying to hit someone!"

"Weird…" said Maggie. The other girls didn't know what it could be- they hadn't covered anything like that in Herbology. In Transfiguration that day, they were supposed to be turning beetles into flies. Minerva was doing it lazily by now and had a small colony around her, which she sneakily sent flying towards Selene and Maggie, just to annoy them. As the other two glared at her with malice, there was a knock on a door.

"Come in." said Professor McGonagall. Professor Breaux came in looking rather distressed and whispered urgently to McGonagall, whose face quickly became worried. She tried to mask it as she called Anita Anderson of Ravenclaw up to the front. Anita, suddenly alarmed, was ushered out of the room by Professor Breaux.

Minerva, Maggie, and Selene looked at each other. "Keep transfiguring your beetles. Most of you still need practice." said McGonagall with a forced smile.

"What was that all about?" asked Selene when they were leaving the class. "I don't know, but I know how we can find out." said Minerva. Living in the castle for the last four years since her mother was hired had its advantages. Minerva led the girls up to the teachers' staffroom. She slowly creaked the door open, and seeing no one inside, hurried the other girls into the rather cramped closet.

Leaving the door slightly open, they could see Professor Flitwick walk in with Minerva's mother. "... took her out of my class." McGonagall was saying.

"But why would they do that?" asked Flitwick.

"Well, Anita's father is apparently very high up in the Auror Department. They were going on a raid of Aspan Malfoy's manor and on the way there he and his party was attacked!"

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"Alastor Moody was fine, as always, but a few others were injured. Anderson and two of the attackers were the only ones killed."

The girls hiding in the closet gazed at each other in horror. Although this type of thing was becoming more common since the dark wizard calling himself Lord Voldemort had been rising to power since last year, it was the first time one of their own in Hogwarts had been affected so directly.

Maggie got very quiet as they walked back to class. She folded her arms tightly around herself, her expression dark. Minerva looked at her friend, and instantly knew what she was thinking. Maggie's mother was an Auror. So was Rei's, their new friend. As they walked back into class, Minerva's arm was slung over her friend's shoulders.

_**Rei**_

Rei Scorch was a girl that always knew what was going on. At the moment though, she felt completely in the dark. Four boys, named James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were up to something and she didn't know about it.

Maggie, Minerva and Selene had come to lunch looking very, very pale and worried, Maggie more so than the other two girls. When she asked what was wrong, all three made up some story about having a hard time in Transfiguration. Rei knew that it was a lie on Minerva's part. That girl never had trouble in Transfiguration. Then, there was Professor McGonagall and Professor Breaux. They were acting very strange as well, and in the hallway, she overheard the two talking about "increasing security". Something was going on at Hogwarts.

It was during Charms that Rei was pondering all of this and she swung her wand so hard in frustration that it collided with Lily's and blew up into a storm of confetti. "Oops." Lily, normally very studious and annoyed when something interrupted, starting laughing much to Rei's surprise. "Rei. I think... you have...glitter...up your nose..." she said in between giggles. Snape smiled when he looked over, glad to see his friend having a good time.

Professor Flitwick looked over and was about to come to them when Professor Dumbledore himself came inside. "Excuse me, Filius. Can I borrow you for a moment or two? John agreed to supervise your class. They are first years correct?"

"Oh, yes sir!" squeaked Flitwick, tumbling off his podium.

Dumbledore smiled at the first years. "Good. He should be able to handle it." Dumbledore turned to the children. "Don't explode anything up high. You'll ruin the ceiling," he said with a smile. "I would know." He winked and then he and Flitwick walked outside while John Flitwick and Sean Sommers came inside.

"Cool! Confetti!" exclaimed Sean, grabbing a handful and throwing at the other first years. The Slytherins looked at him in disgust. "All I got was soot on my first feather blowup!"

"That's because you're a prat," John replied. "You guys can practice while I'm in here. 'Wingardium Leviosa', right?"

"I keep exploding my feathers!" complained half the class, Rei included. Laughing, John replied. "You may just be a little...over-enthused. If you exaggerate your wand movements, you exaggerate how big you want the spell to be. Just a simple swish and flick, like my Dad has probably been trying to beat into you all period."

Rei then had a brilliant idea. "John, I need serious help!" As soon as John walked over, she pulled him down to her desk. "What's going on with the teachers?" she whispered. Lily's eyes flicked over and she moved a little closer, but other than that here was no sign that she was listening.

John shook his head. "I don't know the specifics..." "That's ok, just give me SOME kind of information. I don't like being out of the loop!" whispered Rei. John shifted his eyes to survey the other students before focusing on Rei again.

"Ok, look, all I heard was that there was some kind of fight between some of Voldemort's followers and some people from our side... Some Ministry people think they should increase security here because some parents have expressed concerns." he whispered very quickly. WHACK! Sean had come up and smacked John on the side of the head.

Sean hissed through clenched teeth, "You were not supposed to say anything! Just because we happened to overhear your dad talking to people doesn't mean we're supposed to know anything either!"

"I didn't tell her much... besides, it's not like we know much anyway."

Sean gave him a reproaching glance and went to help Snape with his technique. John followed, but not before warning Rei not to say anything to anyone. Rei left class feeling slightly better now that she knew as much as the two third-year boys... and more than she was supposed to in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter One.

_**Chapter Three: Rivalry**_

_**Lily**_

Lily was confused after Charms class. Growing up in a strictly Muggle environment definitely had its downfalls. Who did John mean when he had said Voldemort? She wasn't about to ask anyone though, not after not knowing what Quidditch was. Apparently this person wasn't a good wizard if people are fighting him. Lily figured she could just listen closely to the coming conversations and she could put the pieces together later.

"Did you see how I scored ten points for Gryffindor in Transfiguration today?" Lily heard James Potter say loudly in front of her. She saw him glance back to see if she was paying attention. Lily simply pretended that she didn't hear and instead started up a conversation with Rei. This didn't discourage James. Apparently he's arrogant no matter who's listening to him, thought Lily.

"...and nothing happened AT ALL when Snape tried!" laughed James. Sirius was laughing just as hard, while Peter Pettigrew laughed nervously behind the other guys, and Remus grinned. "I wish I could show him a thing or two." said Severus behind the girls. Lily and Rei turned to look at him. His face was red with anger.

"It's ok, Sev, it's not like James Potter isnt' very good at Potions. You definitely beat him in that class!" Lily said loudly enough for James and company to hear.

James turned beat red and turned around. "So what? Potions isn't real magic!" he exclaimed.

Remus sighed. "Yes, it is, James, otherwise they wouldn't teach it here." He tried to pull James away, not liking where this entire conversation was going.

James glared at Remus and went up to Severus. Sirius gave Remus a weird look, wondering why he was sticking up for Snape. "So? You need a girl to stand up for you?" He said, his face inches away from Severus's.

Severus' hand slipped into his robes. Lily knew he was reaching for his wand, and she tried to pull his hand back. James, however, had seen this and quickly withdrew his own wand. The hallway quickly emptied, everyone else knowing the consequences of being involved in a fight. Before anyone could move, James shouted the first spell that came to his mind. "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" He bellowed, causing Severus to fly up into the air.

"PUT HIM DOWN!"

"Merlin, JAMES!"

"You're going to get expelled!"

James went to move his wand again, but all of a sudden, a desk came charging out of nowhere and James had to jump out of the way. He crashed into a statue and groaned when his arm began to bleed. Out of seemingly nowhere, Minerva McGonagall hurried forward, while Maggie Mirranoy stayed behind to help Severus down. "You do not EVER use magic on another student, James!" Minerva shrieked.

"She is going to be a great teacher some day," muttered Rei.

Lily gave her a distracted nod and turned to help Maggie tend to Severus. How dare James Potter do this! After making sure that Severus was ok, Lily turned back and marched up to James. "You arrogant ... toe-rag!" She screeched and promptly socked him in the nose. James looked horrified but said nothing.

Sirius nodded. "Red-head temper. Come on, mate, let's get you to Poppie..." Sirius, having blown up about three things in the past hour, was very familiar with the Infirmary and Madam Pomfrey. Sirius and Remus helped James up. Remus motioned to Peter, who took his spot.

"I'll be right there," muttered Remus. Remus timidly walked over to Severus, Maggie, Lily and Minerva. "Severus, are you ok?"

Severus sneered at Remus. "I'm fine! Go back to your little friends!" He shook the girls off him and shuffled off in the other direction, to what Lily could only assume was where the Slytherin common room was. Remus said sorry to the girls for the trouble and went up to the infirmary with the other boys. Lily shook her head. Why did James Potter have to act like such a jerk?

_**Maggie**_

Maggie sighed. Today was going to be long...and it was barely time for dinner. "Do you guys think you could just bring me back something from the Great Hall?" Lily asked, clearly upset.

Maggie smiled. "I've got a better idea. Minerva? Rei? You want to come with us?" The other girls nodded and followed Maggie downstairs to a portrait of fruit. Minerva tickled the pear and suddenly a door appeared. Maggie and Minerva led Rei and Lily into what appeared to be the Hogwarts kitchens.

"Hi, Miss Minnie and Miss Maggie!" squeaked a house elf. Minerva and Maggie both smiled, said hello, and introduced Lily and Rei. "

What was that?" asked Lily in a low voice.

"Who, and Binkie," replied Maggie. "She's a house elf."

The little creature had disappeared behind a door and reappeared with an armful of food, followed by five other house elves carrying food and drinks. "Here's what you normally get, with some extras for your friends!" said Binkie in her high voice.

"Thank you so much Binkie!" said Maggie. "Anything you guys need?"

Binkie giggled, "Oh no, Miss Maggie! You are too kind! You take your food and enjoy it! We live to serve!"

Minerva smiled. "Well, thank you! We really appreciate it!" She pulled out a messenger bag and the house elves loaded it up with the goodies. They all said goodbye and the girls climbed back through the portrait and hurried upstairs.

"Wow! That was so cool!" said Rei happily. Lily looked cheered up too. Luckily the common room was empty since everyone else was in the Great Hall for dinner, so the girls had it all to themselves.

Lily suddenly looked up from her goblet of pumpkin juice and said, "We should get those boys back." Maggie and Minerva exchanged worried glances.

"Um, don't you think you did that when you punched James?" asked Maggie.

"Yeah, you're lucky a teacher wasn't around!" said Minerva.

Lily sighed. "Fine, fine. He deserved it though! Severus has never done anything to him!" She folded her arms, clearly still upset.

"Come on, let's go eat this up in our dorm. The others can't know about the kitchen," laughed Minerva. The four climbed the staircase together and went down to the dorm on the end of the hall. When Minerva opened the door, the girls were greeted by an unpleasant surprise.

"What the...!" All four girls were attacked by balloons filled with water. On Minerva's bed was a desk...that wouldn't come off. "It. Is. On." hissed Minerva. "What is the most terrifying thing to a boy, ladies?"

"Not being masculine?" said Rei after a few minutes.

"Exactly! Maggie, where's John?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. Like she had previously thought, long day. "Come on." Maggie led the girls to the entrance of Ravenclaw tower. "Wait here, I'll be back," Maggie whispered the password and then darted inside, hoping no one would recognize her as a Gryffindor. She heard Rei and Lily ask Minerva how she knew how to get in. John had told her the password about a week ago, so that they could study in there during their free period. Maggie looked around for John and found him studying in a corner. "Hey, come here!" She grabbed him and pulled him outside.

"What? What is this all about?"

"We need some help," grinned Minerva.

They found Sean walking back up to Gryffindor tower and pulled him along outside. When the group got to the lake where they didn't think they could be overheard, Sean was finally allowed to ask what was going on. Minerva quickly explained the whole thing.

"Oh geez... so what exactly do you want us to do?" he asked.

"Well, we want you and John to sneak into the boys bedroom and turn all their pants into skirts!" said Minerva wickedly.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..." muttered John.

"What was that?" snapped Minerva.

"Oh nothing." said John quickly. "So, uh, why exactly should we do this?"

"Mainly because you're our friends. And also think of it as a learning experience." said Maggie. John and Sean looked questioningly at her. "Well, you can practice your  
>transfiguration spells." Maggie smiled innocently.<p>

"Also, I'm VERY annoying when someone won't do what I want." chimed in Rei.

"Fine! Fine. We'll do it in the morning when they've left for classes. We both have a free first period tomorrow." said John.

_**Minerva**_

The next day Minerva woke up wondering if Sean and John were going to pull this off. She was having second thoughts and was praying they all didn't get into trouble.

Maggie apparently noticed this when they were walking down to breakfast because she said, "You know, it's too late to back out now. Don't worry, they won't get caught and those other guys deserve it!"

Minerva nodded, "Ok, ok. You're right. We can't call it off now... but I wish I hadn't lost my head like that last night."

Maggie rolled her eyes. Minerva knew Maggie thought she was too uptight sometimes. After their second class of the day Sean and John ran up to them.

"Ok, mission complete!" said Sean smiling. "Although we did have a bit of an accident... and uh, well, all their clothes turned pink also... not sure how that happened..." John  
>said. The girls giggled.<p>

"That's even better!" exclaimed Maggie.

"Yeah, we didn't think you'd mind. So anyway, they should find out tomorrow morning when they get up for classes. We didn't even leave pajamas so that they wouldn't have  
>anything to wear to class!" Sean said.<p>

"Excellent." smiled Minerva.

The next morning, Minerva McGonagall stopped studying because of one of the sweetest sounds ever. Revenge. Four boys screamed, and their comments could be heard down in the Common Room, where Minerva, Maggie, Lily and Rei were waiting.

"MY MASCULINITY IS OVER!"

"MAN, I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN!"

"This is so... WRONG."

"Uh, guys... does this dress make me look fat?"

The four girls began to giggle. "This is great," said Rei. Minerva smiled. Maybe she did need to loosen up. Things like this were actually fun. Afterwards, the four girls ran to breakfast, to avoid the boys. They sat, eating and in general, having a great time. Other students filed in and so did the teachers.

All the girls stopped cold when they saw Professor McGonagall walk over. "Maggie, Minerva, come with me," she said sternly. In her hands, she held a pink skirt. Minerva felt her heart drop to her stomach. She was going to be in so much trouble! Rei and Lily exchanged a look and both jumped up. "It was me!" They said in unison.

Maggie jumped in. "No, no. None of them had anything to do with it. It was me. Just me."

"No, girls, quit. It was me," said Minerva. Soon, the four were arguing over who did it, each blaming herself. After Professor McGonagall walked the girls up to her office, she had no choice but to give all four girls detention. She knew that they must have had a good reason, so she let them explain why. Then she proceeded to give the four boys a detention also due to the evidence of the desk still attached to Minerva's comforter (she had been sleeping with extra blankets). Minerva thought it could have gone much worse. After all, they got a detention with Hagrid and the boys got one with Argus Filch, the mean and nasty caretaker.

"What will we be doing with Hagrid?" asked Lily.

"Oh, who knows? Probably be dragged into the Forbidden Forest or have to hand feed the giant squid!" said Minerva, her voice unusually high, which Maggie knew meant she was very distressed over getting in trouble.

"Minnie, calm down!" Maggie said. "It will be fine. Your mom wasn't even that mad after she found out what the boys did."

Minerva scowled, "Yeah, but we got detention! It's on our permanent records! Dumbledore will be so disappointed!"

Lily looked a little worried now. Maggie pulled Minerva close to her and hissed, "Chill out now! You're freaking out Lily."

Minerva looked over and cleared her throat. "I'm sure Maggie's right... We'll be fine Lily. Hagrid is actually very nice. And maybe I'll just talk to my mom and see what can be  
>done about our records..." Everyone seemed to relax a little at this comment.<p>

"Well, I for one, think this will be fun!" exclaimed Rei suddenly. The other girls looked at her. "What? At least we're not with the boys or Filch right? And the Forest looks so cool! I hope we get to go in there!" Maggie and Minerva exchanged glances.

_**Rei**_

Soon dusk came. The four girls met up with Hagrid at his hut. Lily jumped at the sight of a huge black dog, that ran over and promptly began licking her. "Fang! Ger'off!" Hagrid came and pulled the dog by it's collar. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly to Lily. "Well, Maggie and Minerva! It's about time you two came ter see me!" Maggie just smiled and gave Hagrid a hug; she told Rei earlier that Hagrid was one of her favorite people at Hogwarts. "Who are yer friends?"

"This is Rei Scorch and Lily Evans," replied Minerva. "Good ter meet yeh both. Tonight we'll be goin' ter the Forest. Something's been barkin' in all hours of the night and annoying the other forest natives. The centaurs think it's a crup that someone's let loose."

Lily looked confused. "What is a crup?"

Hagrid smiled, glad to share his knowledge. "A crup looks kinda like a muggle terrier except it has a forked tail. It eats gnomes and the like. Harmless to witches and wizards, just irritatin'. We can split up. I'll look to the left, and I'll let you girls take Fang with you. Nothin' in the forest will hurt yeh if ye've got Fang." Minerva and Lily exchanged and unsure look, but Rei and Maggie just grinned and both reached for Fang's leash. Hagrid handed it to Maggie and said, "Let's meet back here in half an hour. If you get inter any trouble just send up sparks with your wands and I'll come runnin'."

Maggie nodded and the girls set off down the right-hand path. While Lily looked around nervously, Rei came up behind her... "BOO!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Lily and Minerva clamped a hand over her mouth as Rei doubled over in hysterical laughter.

"It was just Rei. Shhhh! You cannot be that loud in here!" scolded Minerva. Lily nodded and shoved Rei's arm, glaring.

Rei giggled, "Oh come on Lily, I'm just having fun. Sorry I scared you!" Rei gave her an unwanted hug.

"Yeah, yeah.." muttered Lily grudgingly.

"SSHHHH!" said Maggie. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Yeah, sounds like the crup." answered Minerva. "It's coming from that way." She pointed to the left.

"That's not on the path though." Lily pointed out.

Rei's eyes gleamed. "Let's go! We have Fang with us! We gotta find this thing for Hagrid."

"Good point. Ok, I'm in." said Maggie.

"Might as well. We can't split up after all." said Minerva.

Lily nodded and followed the other girls off the path. The deeper they went into the Forest the darker, more silent, and denser it got. Every rustle of a leaf or snapping of a twig made the girls snap their heads around. Flashes of shadows moved past them and kept coming in and out of focus. Rei's former excitement was dwindling slowly. She was suddenly remembering all the horrible looking creatures pictured in her Defense Against the Dark Arts book and was wondering how many of them could be in these woods.

"Uh, girls?" said Lily suddenly. "I can't hear the crup anymore. Where are we?"

"Lost," said Maggie, matter-of-factly.

Rei blinked. "You are so comforting." She mentally hit herself. Why had she gotten so overexcited? "Maybe we should send up sparks... uh, Minerva, Maggie, that's your cue."

Minerva and Maggie both held their wands up in the air and sent up sparks; Minerva's were green and Maggie's were blue. "Oops," said Maggie. "I think we did fireworks," she giggled, looking up at the sky, where their fireworks were still going off. Something glinted in the moonlight and the spark light.

"What's that?" asked Rei and Lily at the same time, looking toward a huge tree with a hole in it.

"What's what?" asked Minerva. The light flared again and she and Maggie both walked toward the tree. Later, none of the girls could remember why they'd done it; however, all four walked up to the tree and reached into the hole in the trunk. Each girl, upon pulling her hand out, found a silver brooch in it. It was intricately weaved into a Celtic knot on the top and there was a small white orb in the center. After each got to see the brooches, silver light flashed.

"Whoa," said Rei. She heard what sounded like a horse galloping in the distance. "Guys, uh, something is coming."

"Someone," said a disgruntled centaur.

"Oh, sorry," said Rei, sheepishly.

"What are you humans doing out here?" the centaur asked.

"We're looking for a crup with Hagrid, but we got lost." explained Minerva.

"Ah. Well, it's dangerous out here... I'll show you the way back to the path. My name is Firenze by the way." said the muscular, blond centaur. The girls introduced themselves and Rei saw Firenze eye the broaches suspiciously. "Where did you find those?"

"In that tree." pointed Maggie. "Do you know what they are?"

"They look very much like something a fellow centaur made." The girls looked at him questioningly, so he expanded as they walked back toward the path. "They were made by a centaur who was trying to discover the secrets of the stars. He attempted four times, but none of the devices worked the way he wanted them to. So he hid them to mask his failure."

"Should we put them back then?" asked Minerva as Rei glared at this question. She wanted to keep hers! It was so beautiful after all.

"I do not believe they have any power. You may keep them, but hide them away while in the woods. The centaur who made them would not like it if he knew someone found them." The girls nodded and tucked away the brooches as they hear hoof-steps approaching. A wild looking black centaur appeared from the shadows.

"Firenze! What are you doing in the company of these humans?" he asked angrily.

"Bane," said Firenze in a soothing voice, "these are young ones. They are not like other humans yet. They are lost. I was just setting them on the right path so they can find Hagrid again."

As if on cue, the girls and the centaurs heard Hagrid running up to them. "What happen'd?" 

"We got lost," said the girls in unison.

"Hullo, Bane, Firenze," said Hagrid.

Bane glanced over, but said nothing. Firenze smiled a greeting. After a few minutes, the girls and Hagrid bade the centaurs a good night and Hagrid led them out of the forest. "I think ye've had enough excitement for one night," Hagrid said, walking the girls to the castle.

"We'll talk tomorrow," said Rei to the other girls. All agreed sleepily that they'd had enough excitement for one night.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Please see Chapter One.

_**Chapter Four: It's a Secret!**_

_**Lily**_

The next morning was a Saturday. Lily Evans awoke, looking for an owl at her window. Slightly disappointed, but not disheartened yet, she decided to get dressed and visit the Owlery. Lily had written her parents one letter yesterday and sent another to Petunia. After throwing on a pair of flared jeans and a green, long sleeved top, Lily grabbed her brooch and used it to pin together her cloak, because the original clasp came off in the forest last night.

After arriving in the Owlery, Lily smiled, seeing a letter from her parents attached to a small brown owl. Her smiled faded upon noting that Petunia hadn't written her back. She slumped into a corner and opened her parents' letter, reading all about how they were, how much they missed her and loved her, but there was no mention of Petunia. Sighing, Lily wished that she had someone to talk to. She knew that all of her friends were asleep though. Fingering the brooch, Lily stood up and was shocked to be face to face with a transparent Maggie Mirranoy, who looked just as confused.

"Lily?" came Maggie's voice from the brooch. Lily nearly dropped it in surprise.

"Maggie! What's going on?"

"I have no idea! I was just running my finger over it and then your face appeared!"

"This is so weird..." Lily then heard footsteps coming up to the Owlery. With a fleeting glance to Maggie she pinned the brooch back on her cloak.

"Were you just talking to someone?" asked Severus as he walked up the stairs.

"Uh, no. Well, I mean, I told the owl thank you for my letter, but that's it." stammered Lily. Severus looked at her suspiciously, but didn't press the issue. They talked for a few more minutes before Lily excused herself. She hated lying to her best friend, but she didn't know anything about the strange brooch. She wanted to talk to the girls about this first. Besides, it was kind of cool to have a secret...

When Lily got up to the Gryffindor common room, Maggie was waiting for her. She hastily pulled Lily up to the second years' dorm and closed the door behind her. "Ok, we need to figure out what these things are!" said Maggie. "Have you talked to Rei or Minerva?"

"No, I don't know where they are."

"Alright, let's try this again..." said Lily. She took off the brooch. "Ok, so I was holding it like this and ran my finger over it. And you were holding yours at the same time."

Maggie followed suite and held her brooch as she did before. Both rubbed their fingers against the smooth surface... and nothing happened.

"I don't get it! This is what happened before!" said Lily.

"Hhhmmm," muttered Maggie, looking at the brooch suspiciously. "Maybe we can't be in the same room... or maybe we have to hold it a certain way... or, or, be thinking about something in particular..." The two pondered over the brooches for another thirty minutes or so before giving up. "We will just have to keep experimenting with them... and we definitely need to find Minerva and Rei to tell them what happened!"

"Yeah, maybe they'll have some more insight." agreed Lily.

_**Maggie**_

Maggie and Lily talked a bit more about what had happened to both of them that day. After the morning that Maggie had, she wanted nothing more than to talk to one of her friends. She'd just gotten a letter from her mother, telling Maggie that she was going undercover to try and find out more about this Voldemort that was on the rise. The whole letter was in code. After realizing that Minerva was asleep, Maggie went for a run around the lake, and took the brooch with her to examine it and get her mind off things.

Maggie and Lily searched for Minerva and Rei for about half an hour. They were just about to give up when Maggie caught a flash of red hair going down the corridor. "Got Rei," she said, nudging Lily. After turning to the left, they saw Rei go into the library. Maggie pulled Lily along behind her and they wandered around until they found Rei sitting at a table with Minerva.

Maggie and Lily sat beside them. "We've been looking for you two!" she whispered. She noticed that Rei and Minerva both had their brooches in their hands. "Did you two get a shock this morning as well?"

Minerva's eyes got wide. "You and Lily too?" She lowered her voice and the others had to lean in very close to hear her. "Rei and I were in our dorms about an hour ago, both ofus wishing that we had someone to talk to, and then our images appeared to each other. We were both holding our brooches."

"That's what happened with Maggie and me as well," Lily said. She and Maggie went about telling Minerva and Rei what happened to each of them that morning.

"This is very weird," said Rei, after they had all recounted their stories.

"We should find someone to ask about these." Minerva whispered. When the others continued to look at her, she continued, "Well, because my mother always told me never to trust magical items if you don't know where they came from. They could be dangerous."

"But who is there to ask? I mean, no one knew about these other than that centaur, right? And I don't really think he'd tell us anything. He didn't seem very friendly," said Lily.

Rei looked thoughtful suddenly. "Ok, what if," she started in excited whispers," we were to go back to the forest and find the nice centaur, Firenze, I think Hagrid called him. If we told him what happened, maybe he'd be able to help us!"

Maggie thought about this slowly. If they were able to get to the forest how could they get to Firenze without running into one of the others or something worse? They should find out more about them though; what Minerva said was right. Her mother had told her the exact same thing. Who else would possibly know anything about it? Then it hit her.

"Minerva! Couldn't we find out something from Dumbledore? I mean, he's the most brilliant wizard of, well, ever!"

Minerva seemed to like this idea more than the going-into-the-forest one. "We could arrange that easily during Christmas break. I'll be here regardless and I can hang out with Mom in the teacher's lounge or where ever. We don't have to tell him that we found these. We can just make it sound like we're interested in enchanted jewelry or something."

Rei seemed slightly disappointed, but Lily looked relieved at not having to go into the forest again. "Ok, we can figure out how to make it sound legitimate by that time!"

Maggie glanced at Rei and sighed. "And if he can't tell us what we need to know we could go back to the forest I suppose."

Rei grumbled. "Firenze said that Bane made them though!" Her eyes lit up. "What if we could get Hagrid to arrange a meeting between us and Firenze? He seemed to know a lot about them."

Lily and Maggie both sighed as they looked between Rei and Minerva. "We don't have a tie-breaker," Maggie whispered to Lily, who nodded, saying that it was going to be a long day.

After getting tired of listening to Rei and Minerva bicker back and forth, Maggie finally broke in. "HOLD IT!" she screeched, earning a glare from the librarian. Maggie smiled and waved sheepishly. She lowered her voice. "Why don't we talk to both of them? I'm sure that Hagrid will keep our secret. Plus, both Firenze and Dumbledore could give us different information that may help. Everyone agree?"

Lily spoke up. "And we can see if Hagrid will get Firenze to meet us at the edge of the forest, behind his hut, so we don't have to go in," she looked at Minerva, who nodded.

"Ok, so everyone wins," sighed Maggie.

**_Minerva_**

The next week, the girls finally figured out how to get Hagrid to arrange a meeting with Firenze for them. All four waited by the lake to see what Firenze would tell Hagrid. "So is anyone staying here for Christmas besides me?" asked Minerva. The break was in two weeks.

"I am," Maggie replied quietly; she still hadn't heard from her mom.

"My parents want me home," said Lily and Rei in unison.

Minerva could tell Maggie was apprehensive about staying, so she gave Maggie a huge smile and hugged her. "It's going to be so much fun having you here this year! Usually I'm just stuck with the teachers... Oh aaaaand John will be here too." She nudged Maggie's side at that.

Maggie looked stunned and said, "I just don't know what you're talking about. We are nothing more than friends." But Maggie smiled back at Minerva anyway. Just then they heard Hagrid come up behind them. The girls all turned to face him.

"So what did he say Hagrid?" asked Rei.

Hagrid grunted. "He said he'll meet us in the woods behind my house 'on the night of the full moon' which I think means next Saturday."

Minerva nodded. "That sounds right. We were talking about the full moon in astrology yesterday."

"Aw, that's a whole week away!" pouted Rei.

Maggie gave her a look and said, "That's better than nothing. Hagrid did us a great favor, so don't complain." Rei immediately shut up and said thank you to Hagrid along with the rest of the girls. As they were walking back up to the dorms Lily mentioned that the week would give them a chance to come up with what they were going to say exactly to Firenze and to plan what Maggie and Minerva would say to Dumbledore over the fast-approaching break. Minerva nodded, but to herself she wondered if they would actually find out anything helpful.

The next week flew by for Minerva. Soon it was Saturday. All that week she had been distracted. The brooches were like a puzzle to her, and it annoyed her that she couldn't figure out what exactly they were. None of the girls experienced anything else with the brooches that week, so she had little to study. Minerva went down to breakfast that day and was immediately met by a suspicious Rei Scorch.

"Those four boys are up to something. Remus goes somewhere every month and then comes back with some kind of rubbish excuse about a family member being sick. The other three cover for him. Every month for three days."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," said Minerva, pouring herself some pumpkin juice. She knew that she and Rei argued a lot, but it was really all for show. The two had become quite close since they met.

Rei didn't seem to like this answer, but dropped it all the same. Maybe she finally realized that I don't care what those boys are up to, thought Minerva. Just then Maggie and Lily walked up to the table and they all started discussing plans for the evening, wondering what in the world Firenze would say. That night they all went down to Hagrid's hut at dusk. It was easy getting down there and anyone they ran into they told they were going to visit Hagrid, which wasn't exactly a lie. When they reached the hut they saw that Hagrid was waiting on them. "Al'ight you four, let's go." grunted Hagrid as Fang jumped on and licked each girl in turn. They followed Hagrid around the house to a very small clearing just inside the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Firenze was not yet there. Hagrid reminded them to be very polite to Firenze and to keep their voices down, since centaurs could be unpredictable and since they didn't want to draw one like Bane near them. A few minutes later they hear hooves in the distance. "'Ere 'e comes!" said Hagrid. A moment later, Firenze had appeared from behind a large tree trunk and approached them.

**_Rei_**

Rei was bursting with excitement as Firenze came toward them. Finally, they were going to get some answers!

"What is so important, young ones?" asked Firenze. "Hello, Hagrid," he added, as if just noticing the big man. The four girls each took out their brooches and looked at each other as if unsure what to say.

Eventually, Rei spoke up. "The brooches... we had kind of an accident with them. See, a few days ago, Minerva and I were both wishing that we had someone to talk to, and all of a sudden we appeared in front of each other, like a holograph or something."

"Don't make it sound like a science fiction novel," said Lily.

"We're in a school of magic, talking to a centaur, and you're worried about science fiction?" hissed Rei.

"Anyway, the same thing happened to Lily and I," Maggie said. "We were wondering if you knew anything about that, or if the brooches were dangerous."

Firenze smiled. "The brooches are far from dangerous. It is kind of like a two way mirror, which you are familiar with, I believe. The centaur that made them was upset because that was as far as he could make them go in the ways of communication. Since you four picked up the brooches at the same time, you can communicate with each other when you hold the brooches. As far as I know, you just have to concentrate on whom you wish to speak to." Firenze looked at Minerva. "If you would like confirmation, you may ask Dumbledore. He is very wise."

Rei grinned at Minerva. It was like Firenze had read her friend's mind. Shortly after, the girls walked back up to the castle, buzzing with excitement. "Look at that," Rei said. "The Whomping Willow is going crazy." The other three looked at the huge tree.

"Is that Madam Pomfrey?"

"She's taking someone down there..."

"Into the tree?" Maggie demanded.

"How can one go into a tree?" asked Lily.

"Look! It stopped moving!" exclaimed Minerva.

Rei, not thinking, ran a little closer. "It's Remus! She's taking Remus into the tree!" Maggie and Minerva quickly caught Rei's arms and pulled her away. They marched up to the Gryffindor common room and didn't speak until they were sure they were alone. "What's the big idea? We could've figured out what was going on!" exclaimed Rei. She was quite irritated that the older girls had dragged her back up here when she was within sprinting distance of finding out the secret haunting her all term.

"Maybe you didn't see what you thought you did." said Maggie in a soothing voice, which Rei found highly annoying.

"Yeah, because if Madame Pomfrey is involved I'm sure that everything is okay and perfectly legal." said Minerva with a look that clearly said to drop it.

Rei debated whether or not to argue with them, but just then Lily chimed in saying, "Besides, if that tree started moving again, which I'm sure it would have done immediately after whoever it was got inside the tree, it would have killed you!"

Rei considered this for a moment before saying, "Yeah… That does seem likely. Otherwise anyone could follow them in." They sat quietly for a moment until Rei said, "I'll just have to find out what's going on another way."

Minerva let out an exasperated sigh before saying goodnight and walking upstairs. Maggie followed, leaving Rei and Lily alone. Rei noticed Lily looking distantly into the crackling fire and asked her what was wrong.

"I'm just not sure how this holiday will go at home…" she said quietly. "Petunia was so mean before I left and she didn't write to me at all since I've been here."

Rei put an arm around Lily and said, "Well, don't you worry about her. You have a lot more going for you now! Plus, you have me, Maggie, and Minerva! The…. the…. sisterhood of the…. enchanted brooches!"

Lily laughed in spite of herself and seemed to cheer up at this thought. Rei continued, "Don't worry; we'll all be here for you! And besides, your sister's probably just jealous of you anyway. I mean, you're just SO much cooler than she'll ever be!" Rei flashed Lily a goofy smile that sent them both into hysterics.

"Thanks Rei! You always know how to cheer me up! I'm so glad I have you girls." Lily gave her a hug then they both went upstairs to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I am SO sorry for the long time it took to update. School and work do not a prompt writer make.

_**Disclaimer: Please See First Chapter**_

_**Chapter Five: The Winter Hols**_

_**Lily**_

Lily Evans was not having a pleasant holiday. Her parents were fantastic; they wanted to know all about Hogwarts and her friends, and her dorm, and classes. They filled her in on what was happening with the neighbors and her old school friends. Petunia, though, was not so excited to see her. Every time they passed in the hallway, Lily was either snubbed or called a freak. Petunia always had the ability to make Lily's mood as horrible as her sister's demeanor. As bad as it sounded, Lily couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts.

She and Severus had arranged to meet in the park, and since she had some time to kill, she decided to write the girls a letter. She rummaged through her trunk and finally found a quill and some spare parchment. She dipped the quill into her signature emerald green ink began.

_Dear Rei, Maggie and Minerva,_

_Sorry for the mass letter, but I'm a little pressed for time. I can't risk having Petunia walk in on me writing and I am about to leave to meet Sev at the park. Honestly, if it weren't for him, I think I would lose it! He's my only flesh connection to Hogwarts._

_Petunia is being a perfect nightmare. I can barely stand her anymore. However, other than that, my holiday is going okay. My parents are well, and very interested in the Wizarding world. I've seen a few of my old school friends, but it's so hard to explain away something as amazing as Hogwarts. I hate lying to them, but I don't think I could handle them treating me as horribly as my own sister does. _

_Basically, things are boring here. I miss all of you terribly! I can't wait to get back to school. When we are all together again, we can work out how to make the brooches work at will. Then we can talk face to face all the time instead of bothering with owls. _

_Best wishes,_

_Lily_

Satisfied, Lily dropped her quill and made one copy of the letter, figuring that since Maggie and Minerva were together, they could share. She gave them to her owl and watched it fly off. After throwing on a dark brown jacket, she hurried down the stairs and went to meet Severus. Petunia glared at her on the way out, but Lily was in too good of a mood to notice. She hurried to the park.

Severus was sitting on a bench by the fountain, waiting with a small thermos of tea and two meat pies. "Hope you haven't had lunch yet," he said.

"What is that?" Lily asked.

"Only the best meat pies in London," Severus smirked. The two ate and chatted about all that they needed to get caught up on since the beginning of the year. Lily felt excluded because of all the house rivalries and she also felt that their friendship would suffer. She told Severus her fear and he just laughed. "Nothing will come between us." Later, Lily walked home, reflecting on what Severus had said, hoping it would be true.

_**Maggie**_

Maggie was awoken by Lily's owl tapping at her dormitory window. "Minerva?" Maggie said, glancing at her friend, whose bed was closest to the window. When Minerva didn't respond, Maggie threw a pillow on her head. Minerva still didn't stir. Grumbling, Maggie got up and pushed back the covers only to discover Minerva wasn't there. Puzzled, Maggie opened the window and took the letter from the owl, giving it an owl treat as thanks. Seeing as it was addressed to both her and Minerva, Maggie decided to find Minerva before opening it.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Minerva ran inside with a worried look on her face. "I was going to talk to Dumbledore, but I heard him talking to my mom and Flitwick about Voldemort. Apparently, he's kidnapped a group of Aurors." Maggie's face fell to a frown. Minerva quickly said they didn't know which ones had been kidnapped. Maggie nodded and handed her the letter. They read together and made a hasty reply. Immediately after, they schemed so that they could figure out which Aurors had been taken.

Two days later, Maggie was walking to the Great Hall for breakfast when she overhead Breaux talking to Dumbledore. "I just can't believe it," Breaux said. "How will we tell Maggie? Where is she going to stay over the summer?"

"She'll stay with Minerva, Bruce and me at the castle!" exclaimed Isobel McGonagall in a huff.

"That's fine," Dumbledore said. "I think that it would be best if she were here. She has no family. Even I can't locate her father."

Maggie stood with her back against the wall and slid down, sitting on the floor. It couldn't be. They were talking as if her mother were already dead. Before Maggie could get up again, Professor McGonagall walked out and saw her sitting. "I suppose you overhead?" Professor McGonagall sat down on the floor by Maggie and put an arm around her.

"What happened?" asked Maggie.

McGonagall took a deep breath. "Well, William Scorch was searching for kidnapped Aurors and he found her. He apparated to St. Mungo's but it was too late."

Maggie buried her face into her hands just as Breaux and Dumbledore came out. "Um. Oh, hell, I don't have any chocolate on me," Breaux fretted.

Dumbledore smiled. "Why don't you and Isobel take the girls and John to Hogsmede? I need you to pick up something for me at Rosemerta's."

McGonagall glared up at Dumbledore sharply. "Don't you think she needs some time before we go gallivanting around Hogsmede?"

"I want to go," sniffed Maggie.

Dumbledore smiled knowingly. "When have I ever steered you wrong, Isobel?"

Isobel sighed and helped Maggie to her feet. Minerva and John came flying frantically down the hall. "Wait!" Minerva shouted, "There she is!" John tried to stop quickly, but lost his balance, skidding into a suit of armor. The others cringed as the armor fell on top of the boy with a loud clang.

"I'm ok," yelled John, getting up. Minerva ran straight to Maggie not looking back at John and causing Breaux to jump out of the way and into a wall. "Ow."

Before Minerva could say anything, Dumbledore said, "I just suggested that you all go to Rosemerta's and pick up something for me." Minerva nodded and the group set out, John with a slight limp.

They got to Rosemerta's and were met with a flash of red flying at Maggie and enveloping her in a hug. "I made my dad drop me off and Dumbledore said it was okay," Rei gushed. Maggie looked surprised, but also touched that Rei cared enough to come.

Suddenly, Maggie had daisies stuffed in her face. Sputtering, Maggie drew back and saw that the arms attached to the flowers belonged to Sirius Black and James Potter. "Hi, Mags, these are for you," Sirius said. All the girls looked quite confused and Maggie wondered how word had spread so quickly.

Sirius and James offered no explanation, just linked arms with Maggie and asked what the day's plans were. Breaux and McGonagall smiled.

_**Minerva**_

Still confused, Minerva pulled Sirius aside. "What are you two doing?"

Sirius explained that he was staying with James and heard through certain unmentionable channels about Maggie's mother. Minerva pressed for information on these "unmentionables" but Sirius was tightlipped. Realizing that she wasn't going to get anything out of him, Minerva sighed and said, "Fine, let's go."

Rei asked Maggie what she wanted to do and Maggie shrugged, unenthused. James said, "I hear they just got two new kinds of chocolate at Honeydukes. I'll buy everyone a bag."

The rest acted excited but Maggie remained straight-faced. No one noticed when John snuck off. Minerva heard her mother and Breaux whispering. Breaux was saying, "Where in Merlin's name is John? Flitwick will Charm us to stick to the ceiling for losing his kid!"

Isobel sighed. "John goes to Hogsmede all the time by himself. I'm more worried about Maggie."

Breaux nodded solemnly. "Shouldn't she be wallowing now anyway?"

"She probably doesn't want to break down in front of her friends."

"Holding it in won't help."

"We'll see how Honeydukes goes and then go from there."

Minerva walked in silence, not quite knowing what to say or do. She wanted to give Maggie a hug, but at the same time didn't want to set her off by doing so. She watched Rei, James and Sirius acting goofy and realized this was not helping.

At Honeydukes, John showed up. He handed Maggie a plush hippogriff and said, "I was going to wait till Christmas. I remember you saying you had one as a kid." Maggie cracked a half smile for the first time all day.

Minerva wished she had thought of it. She wracked her brains trying to think of something she could do for Maggie also.

_**Rei**_

Rei sighed. She exchanged a look with Minerva and knew they were thinking the same thing. What could they do? Then, she had it. Maggie loved the lake. Tonight, she and Minerva would take Maggie there to talk. Rei also had the perfect present idea. She knew Maggie kept a box of pictures under her bed. Maggie was always talking about making an album, but never got around to it. Rei grabbed Minerva and Breaux, heading back up to the castle and leaving Maggie at the mercy of the boys and Professor McGonagall.

Four hours later, everything was set. Maggie came into the Gryffindor common room, still holding the plush hippogriff. "Where did you two go?"

"We were doin' something," Rei grinned.

Maggie sighed. "Yeah, I understand if you guys didn't want to hang out today. It was kind of a weird group."

Minerva smiled. "It wasn't that at all. We were doing something for you!"

Maggie barely managed to look confused as Rei and Minerva both hauled her to her feet. Rei tied a bright red bandana around Maggie's eyes before leading her outside. Rei smiled at Minerva as they arrived at the lake and pulled the bandana off Maggie. They had set up three long beach chairs beside the lake with a little table in the center filled with all of Maggie's favorite sweets and three empty glasses with little umbrellas in them. Rei and Minerva looked over at Maggie, who was tearing up.

"Wow, you guys! This is great. You pulled all this together for me?"

"Well, we had a little help from Breaux." admitted Minerva.

"We have all your favorite junk foods and butterbeer… aaaand a little present Minerva and I put together…." said Rei leading them over to the set up. Rei pulled out a red photo album with elegant swirls embroidered along the left side. She handed it to Maggie who looked slightly confused. Maggie opened it and on the first page were the words 'To Maggie with all our love, Minerva, Lily and Rei.' Maggie went through the whole album of her family pictures and then some more recent ones of the girls and Hogwarts. At the end was a final picture of all Maggie's closest friends at Hogwarts and Breaux and some of Maggie's other favorite teachers blowing her kisses. Maggie was crying silently up until this point but seeing her friends with Dumbledore and Breaux puckering up for the camera she managed a smile.

"This…. is the best…. present I've… ever gotten," said Maggie between sobs. Rei and Minerva both embraced Maggie and eventually she stopped crying. By the time the tears stopped rolling Maggie's eyes were red and swollen. For the next two hours, Maggie recounted the stories that went along with the pictures of her mother, some of the stories causing laughter, while others caused tears. Around four in the morning, the girls finally headed back up to the castle. Thankfully they were quiet enough to where they did not get caught by anyone. Maggie and Minerva went up to their room, saying goodnight to Rei. Rei also went up to her room, but did not go to sleep right away. Even though she was exhausted, she wrote a letter to Lily explaining what had happened and that she and Minerva stole some of Lily's pictures and put her name in the album too.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer: Please See First Chapter**_

**Chapter 6 – Friends, New and Old**

**Lily**

Lily was swinging in the park by herself thinking about her non-existent relationship with Petunia when a reddish Scops-owl swooped down and landed on the swing next to her. Lily immediately recognized the owl as Rei's, took the letter it was carrying, and gave the owl the rest of her sandwich from lunch. Lily read Rei's flamboyant handwriting in horror as she found out about Maggie's mother. She sat stunned for a minute, then had an urge to see her own mother and ran back home quickly.

When Lily entered she searched for her mom and upon finding her, ran to her and threw her arms around her mother's waist.

"Lily! What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

"Well, I love you too, but what happened?"

Lily told her mother about Maggie's mother dying and then asked Rose Evans what she should do for Maggie. Rose sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for Lily to do the same. "The best thing is just to be there for her. Make sure she knows that you'll be there to talk to her when she needs it. She's probably going to pretend like she's okay for a while and that's when she'll need you the most. Be supportive." Rose sighed, thinking of when her own parents had died. It was long before either Lily or Petunia was born. Lily and her mother talked for a little while longer and then Lily went upstairs and wrote a reply to Rei and a letter to Maggie.

Two weeks later, Lily was back at Hogwarts. The first thing that she did was find Maggie and give her a huge hug, asking if she needed anything. Maggie just smiled and said no. When Lily offered chocolate, Maggie laughed, saying that she was going to get fat if she kept eating and she wouldn't be able to try out for Quidditch next year.

"Oh, Maggie! Did you see that?" exclaimed Lily in outrage as they walked to the Great Hall for dinner. James Potter ran into Snape, knocking him over, and didn't even move to help him up. Lily rushed over, but Snape brushed her off and snapped at her saying that they would talk later.

Maggie sighed and wondered why Snape was being so weird. "You know, James and Sirius do have a soft side. They actually tried to help the day that… I found out." Lily raised an eyebrow. "They did! They brought me flowers and James bought us all chocolate."

"Well… that's just… weird. It still doesn't make how he treats Sev okay though." However, Lily did feel slightly less animosity towards James. She even avoided openly loathing him at dinner. She sat with the girls, Sean and John and waited for Dumbledore to make his welcome back speech.

Dumbledore eventually stood up, smiling at the students. "Hello all! Let us rejoiceify that we are all here together tonight celebrating the start of a new calendar year. A new year is an excellent time to make resolutions, and this year I encourage you all to make a resolution to strengthen your friendships and to forge new alliances with people you may not otherwise associate with. This will become increasingly important in the months and years to come. On a closing note, 'what a delight it is to make friends with someone you have despised!'"

The hall of students exchanged glances with their friends as they applauded. The goblets then filled and food appeared on the table.

" Rejoiceify isn't a word." said Lily.

Minerva and Maggie just laughed. "Dumbledore always makes up his own words," said Minerva, "It's perfectly normal." She then dropped her voice, "The part about 'strengthening friendships will be important in months to come' is what you should have been focusing on."

Lily looked at her questioningly and Maggie whispered, "Because Voldemort is gaining more power…"

Everyone glanced around at each other uneasily. They didn't talk much for the rest of the meal until James, Sirius, and Remus came up and plopped down beside Maggie.

"So, Mags, we managed to come into contact with some English trifle and thought you might like some. They aren't serving it tonight so this is special for you!" said Sirius with a grin. James pulled out a small basket with a cloth draped over the food inside, smiling as he handed it to her. Lily was surprised by this. 'Hmm… maybe Maggie was right about them…' she thought.

"You found the kitchens didn't you?" Maggie asked in a low voice.

Sirius looked shocked. "Kitchens? What kitchens? The Hogwarts food appears by magic only!"

Maggie smiled. "I'm friends with Minerva and John, plus, I explore when I'm bored. How did you three know about the pear?"

"We watched Minerva go in once," Remus said shyly.

Confused, Rei asked, "You guys spy on Minerva?" Sean looked outraged.

"No, no!" laughed Remus. "We were walking one day and we saw her tickle a pear! We thought it was unusual, so we tried it the next day."

"You guys don't have to be nice to me. I know that you know," Maggie said quietly.

"We're not being nice because we _have _to. We're being nice because we want to. WE'RE GOOD PEOPLE! At least, Remus is." Sirius gave Maggie a puppy-eyes face. "We just want to be your friends. Why don't you like us?"

"I do! Well, I mean, I'm sure I will once I get to know you all. It's just random."

James got a mischievous look on his face and said, "Well then we'll just have to hang out every day until you get to know us."

"After all, Dumbledore did say it was a good time to make new friends," Remus added, smiling.

Maggie threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. We'll hang out."

Lily's face fell to a frown. What just happened? Oh, this couldn't be good. The four girls walked back up to the Gryffindor common room, escorted by Sirius, Remus, James, Sean and John. Rei seemed somewhat excited while Minerva was indifferent, and Maggie was still confused. Lily wasn't sure which of her friends she identified with. It was weird that those boys had all of a sudden wanted to become friends. Sirius and Remus seemed okay, but there was one thing Lily was sure of. James Potter was going to have to change and grow up before she let him even think she was going to be friendly toward him, regardless of what Dumbledore said.

_**Maggie**_

Maggie Mirranoy was tired. It had been such a long school year. People were acting weird and it seemed as though life as she knew it was in steep decline. All she needed now was for the Giant Squid to try and eat her when she was on one of her morning runs. Maggie was snapped out of her thoughts as John pulled her by the hand before she could go into the Gryffindor common room. "Not going to say good night to me?" he asked jokingly.

Yawning, Maggie replied, "Wasn't planning on it."

John smiled. "Well, good night," he said and then did the one thing that would change their friendship forever. He kissed her on the lips. Maggie's eyes got wide and John just hugged her and then went back to his own common room.

Rei stuck her head out of the portrait hole. "Mags? You comin'?"

"He, he just! With… and… why?"

"English, girl, English."

"Why would he do that?"

"Who did what?" demanded Rei. By this time, both the girls were yelling and Rei was pushed out of the portrait hole as Minerva and Lily burst out.

Finally Maggie told them what John did. She saw Lily and Minerva exchange an uncomfortable glance. Rei on the other hand looked starry eyed.

"Oh Maggie, how romantic! He must really like you after that great present AND a lip kiss! You're so lucky!" gushed Rei.

Minerva and Lily continued to not speak. 'Obviously they are not going to be any help here,' thought Maggie. 'And I can't even talk to my mom about this now!' She looked at Minerva and Lily. "Will one of you SAY something?"

"Oh, sorry… You know I'm not very good at this kind of thing." muttered Minerva.

Lily nodded, "Yeah, I'm only 11. I have no input at all. I am not like Rei over there." She pointed to where Rei was daydreaming up at the ceiling.

Minerva rolled her eyes at Rei, "Anyway… you like John right? I mean, this would happen eventually anyway right? So it's not a bad thing. You like him, he obviously likes you. So uh, run with it! Or whatever the current slang is…"

At that exact moment, Sirius came out of the portrait hole. "What's going on, ladies? Did you all get stuck? Forget the password?" He then noted Maggie's flushed face, Rei's daydreaming and Minerva and Lily's discomfort. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No!" shouted all four girls.

"Oookay, well the password is 'jumperjackjacks' this week in case you did forget. See ya later!" he shouted as he trotted off the other way.

The four girls groaned and then agreed to sleep on it and talk things out in the morning. Maggie however, had a generally sleepless night. This was a time that she really needed a motherly figure. She loved her friends, but none of them had any experience with this. Around five the next morning, Maggie threw on her school robes and tossed her hair up into a bun. She went to McGonagall's office, but saw that she wasn't in. Maggie sighed, slumping against the door to Breaux's office.

Suddenly, the door opened and Maggie almost fell over. "Girl, what are you doing up this early?" demanded Professor Breaux.

"I can't sleep and I really need to talk an older woman who knows stuff! I'm so confused, Breaux!"

"Why doesn't anyone call me Barbara?"

"Because then they would feel the intense need to shorten that to Barbie," said Maggie matter-of-factly.

Breaux rolled her eyes. "Get in here, Mags. Let's talk." Breaux pulled up a chair for Maggie and then conjured up some tea. "So… what's up?"

'This is so weird,' thought Maggie. "Well, John kind of kissed me last night and I'm not sure how I feel about it."

"Finally!" Breaux exclaimed. "I was so ready for that boy to grow some balls! It's about time!"

"Whaaat?"

"Oh, come on, Maggie, everyone knows. I know, McGonagall knows. Flitwick knows. Dumbledore knows. I'm pretty sure Hagrid knows. Oh! Isobel's going to be so thrilled when she hears about this one!" Breaux gushed on and Maggie was strongly reminded of Rei.

"FOCUS!" screeched Maggie.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Well, in my older woman opinion, I think you should be flattered. You like him too. Just take things slow, at your pace. And if he tries anything you don't like, I'll hex him." Maggie and Breaux talked until it was time for breakfast and then they walked to the Great Hall together. Maybe the remainder of this year wasn't going to be all that horrible…

_**Minerva**_

Minerva McGonagall was also up early. She was frantically trying to find Dumbledore. He'd managed to escape her all during the winter holidays, but not today! Minerva finally found him roaming around on the third floor, apparently looking for a bathroom. "Excuse me, Professor?"

Dumbledore looked up surprised to find Minerva there. "Oh, hello Minerva. What can I help you with?" he said, seeming to forget whatever it was he was looking for.

"Well, if you aren't too busy I'd like to ask you about enchanted jewelry."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful, "That's an odd request… I like odd. Let's talk in this empty classroom." They walked in and sat across from each other in desks. "Now what about enchanted jewelry?"

"Well, I was reading this book about how you can enchant jewelry to do certain things and was wondering if there was any way that one could enchant jewelry to be able to communicate with other people, kind of like a two-way mirror type thing."

"Hmm…." Dumbledore looked at Minerva, considering her, "Well, I have seen something like that before, but those type things are very rare and mostly all items that claimed to do such things are fakes."

"Could something like that be dangerous? Would it be used by dark wizards?"

"Not necessarily. Things like that are typically just enchanted with very advanced communication charms. Therefore, the type of power, that is, good or evil, they are used for is up to whoever possesses them at the time."

Minerva felt instantly relieved. "Thanks, Professor!" she said, sprinting off to the Great Hall. She slid into the chair next to Maggie just as James was about to sit down. "Sorry, James. Girl time."

"But James is a girl!" Sirius yelled from a few spots down. "Oh! James! This is Peter!" exclaimed Sirius pointing to the blond boy beside him. "He's our new best friend! Come meet him again!"

Maggie and Lily both had their heads in their hands. "I'm going to need some kind of head ache potion for the rest of the year," moaned Lily.

"They're so loud!" Maggie whined.

Rei pouted, "I'm loud. You love me, right?"

"Unconditionally," interrupted Minerva. "Anyway, listen," she lowered her voice. "I finally caught Dumbledore. He said that the brooches are neutral. Good or evil depends on who is using them. I'm pretty sure that we're not evil, so I think we'll be okay. We just need to practice with them on the weekend."

Maggie and Lily nodded. "Sounds good to me," they said together.

"This is awesome!" exclaimed Rei. She had never really had a lot of girl friends and it was refreshing to know that these three girls were as fond of her as she was of them.

Minerva smiled. "I'm just glad they aren't dangerous… I mean, it would have been hard to give up something so neat."

"What's neat?" asked Snape as he came over to talk to Lily.

All three paused and then Rei shouted, "Your face!"

Lily laughed and then got up. "I'll see you in Charms, Rei. Maggie, Minerva… um… lunch?" The girls all nodded and Lily walked out of the Hall with Severus. Minerva noticed a few of the Slytherins glaring the pair and sighed. Why was there so much House drama?

**Rei**

Despite being with the Slytherins for Charms next period, Rei was in an excellent mood. She even managed to be the second in the class to master the spell that day. The first was Lily, who seemed to have a natural talent for the subject. But that was okay, the rest of the day was already going well: Remus gave her a grin and said "Good job" after Charms, she managed to not burn herself or anyone else in Potions, and she heard from both her parents that they were okay. Now she just had to wait until after dinner to try to figure out those brooches.

She went to the Great Hall early and found James, Sirius, and Remus there with their new friend Peter, who, Rei noted, looked a little like a rat. Telling herself that was a mean thing to think, Rei sat down beside Sirius and noticed James staring across the Hall.

"What's up with him?" she whispered to Sirius.

"He's mad cos Lily likes Snape better than him." Sirius said nonchalantly, twirling a quill through his fingers with great speed.

"I am not!" exclaimed James, snapping out of it. "I just don't understand why she'd rather hang out with Slytherins than with Gryffindors! I mean, THIS is her house! Not them! That house turns out nothing but dark wizards! I've heard it all my life!"

"Yes, and you're so very old too." said Remus rolling his eyes.

"11 years is a significant period of time!" snapped James.

"Oh geez, is it really that bad?" asked Rei, "Why all the house rivalries? Can't everyone just get along?"

Sirius just looked at Rei, "No, no they can't. Take it from me, almost all Slytherins turn out bad."

"And just how do you know that?"

"Because all the other members of my family but myself and one other are Slytherin… and evil." said Sirius quietly.

"Oh…. I'm sorry… I didn't… sorry," muttered Rei, sorry she had pushed him.

Sirius sighed, "Not your fault. But James and I know what we're talking about. Between my actual family and what his parents do we know our share of what happens to Slytherins."

"SSHHHH!" said James, "Don't mention my parents' job… and quick! Pretend I told a joke!"

Rei looked around confused, but then saw Lily walking toward them, leaving Snape at the Slytherin table.

The other guys immediately burst out laughing at James' request and Rei joined in just for the sake of laughing.

'These guys may not be as prejudiced as we thought… they seem to know what they're talking about…' Rei thought to herself. "Hey, Lily!" she said aloud, grinning.

Lily smiled and said hi to everyone but James. Rei rolled her eyes and elbowed her. "James is here too," she said.

"Hi, Potter," said Lily grudgingly. James smiled and said hello with much more enthusiasm.

Minerva ambulated toward the Gryffindor table with Maggie and Sean and John. The four seemed to be in an intense conversation about something. "I'm telling you there's no way!" Sean exclaimed.

"The restriction of importation of genie lamps through Muggle territories is a totally justifiable law," huffed Minerva.

Sean folded his arms as he sat down. "Look, Muggles deserve a little magic in their lives! Most of them would kill for a chance to get three wishes!"

"Actually, genies are very tricky and the wishes hardly ever work out the way that the wisher wants them to," John said.

Maggie scowled. "I hate genies. I found one when I was seven and my entire neighborhood was flooded with chocolate for a week! Mom had a great time explaining that one to the Ministry… luckily we lived near a chocolate factory at the time so the Muggles weren't too suspicious." Maggie paused, looking at everyone. "Oh, hi guys. We just came from History of Magic and Professor Binns was rambling about genies and everyone got fired up for some reason."

"Genies are cool once they're free," Rei said. "My mom's best friend is a genie."

"You're joking!" exclaimed Remus.

"Nope. Y'all should come meet her some time. Jenisha's powers are so cool! She said she's going to try and teach me some genie magic over the summer."

"That would be fun," Remus said and he and Rei began to talk about the different kinds of magic. Rei began to talk about fairies almost not thinking that she could be giving away her secret.

"Aren't most fairies extinct?" asked John.

"Nah, fire and ice are still around… that is if they don't get into a war and kill each other," Rei replied.

"How do you know so much about fairies?" asked Remus with great interest.

Rei shrugged. "I was always into them as a kid." She mentally hit herself. 'SHUT UP, IDIOT!' she screamed to herself. 'I'm going to give myself away if I keep this up! Damn Remus Lupin and his easiness to talk to!' Despite her inner monologue, Rei appeared cheerful and at ease to her friends. She wanted to tell the girls about her secret, but would they be accepting?

Deciding that they had more important things to deal with right now, Rei pushed that thought to the back of her mind. They must figure out those brooches tonight! Finally, dinner started and the girls ate faster than usual, finishing first and leaving the others wondering what the rush was.

"Okay, so where should we practice these things?" asked Lily once they were out of earshot of anyone else.

"I have the perfect place!" said Minerva with a grin. The rest of the girls followed her to a hallway upstairs and Minerva stopped and stared at a seemingly blank, solid wall.

"Uh, Minnie? There's nothing here…" said Maggie looking thoroughly confused. Rei shared the feeling.

"Just trust me! Now, everyone concentrate on having a place no one can find us to work on the brooches, and with that in mind walk past this wall three times."

The other three girls glanced from each other to Minerva to the wall and back. Clearly all of them thought this was a crazy idea, but Rei could tell that it was easier to go with it than to argue with Minerva McGonagall.

"Ok, ready?" asked Minerva. The others nodded and did as she instructed. Suddenly a door appeared from nowhere right on the wall that had previously been empty. Rei, Lily, and Maggie stood in shock, just staring at the door. Minerva however, opened it and ushered them inside.

"Care to explain that?" asked Maggie.

"Oh, well, while I was here for awhile over the summer I found this place by accident. It was the middle of the night and woke up to find that I needed a pad and Mom wasn't answering her door, so I was wandering around the castle looking for where they might be and found this room that had all the pads and other lady materials I might need in there. I took mental note of where it was and came back the next day, but it was gone. So then I kept experimenting with what might make it appear and finally I figured it out!"

The other girls just stared at her in disbelief.

"You have too much time on your hands." Said Rei.

"And why didn't _I _know about this sooner?" demanded Maggie.

"Well, after I went to my father's for the last half of the summer I kinda forgot until this morning when we were talking about where to experiment with the brooches."

Maggie sighed. Rei grinned. "It is perfect though…" This was going to be excellent. The four girls stayed up all night working on the brooches and by the weekend they had the calling system figured out. They just needed to touch the brooch and concentrate on the person that they wanted to talk to and bam, the girl just appeared in front of them, like a hologram. Maggie and Lily even discovered that they could do group talks if all four were away from each other. By the end of the week all four were giddy with excitement. 'Things can't get better,' Rei thought.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: Please See First Chapter**_

_**Chapter Seven: Defying Gravity**_

_**Lily**_

Lily trotted down to the Great Hall for breakfast in a great mood. She felt like she and the other girls were becoming closer. It was almost like they were all sisters. Lily was so consumed in her thoughts that she ran straight into Remus Lupin. "Ow!" she said as she hit the floor.

"Lily? Are you okay?" asked Remus, helping her up.

"Yeah. I just need to look where I'm going. Where's your posse?"

"Posse? Oh, you mean James, Sirius and Peter?" Remus paused. "More like I'm their posse," he said, sighing. "Anyway, they're still asleep. Being lazy as usual."

Lily rolled her eyes. She did enjoy talking to Remus though. He was so different from the others. He was more mature and that made it easy to talk to him. She didn't mind Remus hanging out with them at all, whereas she could easily go another four years without ever seeing James Potter again. Remus and Lily talked all the way down to the Great Hall, where they met up with Severus and invited him to sit at the Gryffindor table with them. It was still early so there wouldn't be any dirty looks from the Houses. It still bothered Lily that the other Slytherins seemed to hate her just because she was Muggle-born. The Gryffindors hated Severus because he was in Slytherin, but most of them tolerated him because of Lily, who was already well liked by everyone in her House. It just wasn't fair. Lily's thoughts flew to this as she sat down with Severus and Remus and her good mood threatened to vanish all together.

"Lily? What's wrong?" asked Severus.

Lily put on a fake smile. "Nothing, Sev. I'm great."

Severus gave her a look that clearly said they were going to need to talk later. However, Lily didn't know if they would be able to today. She had been doing so badly in flying lessons with Madam Hooch that she had asked Maggie, Minerva and Rei to help her out today. She just hated being up the air.

After she ate a quick breakfast, Lily decided to go up to the Owlery to write a letter to her parents while she waited on the other girls to get up. She finished telling her parents about her classes, her friends, and how she was going to do some extra flying practice today then paused, wondering whether she should try to write to Petunia also or whether to just tell her parents to give Petunia a hello for her. She decided on the former and sealed her parents' letter and wrote a very short one to Petunia. Lily then picked out a school owl and sent both the letters off. Sighing, Lily stared after the owl as it disappeared into the horizon. 'That was probably a waste of my time.' thought Lily bitterly as she realized that Petunia probably would never write to her again.

Lily went back up to the common room, her great mood from the morning faded. Rei bounded downstairs a few minutes later.

"Good morning sunshine!" she exclaimed upon seeing Lily.

Lily laughed and said hello back. She could always count on Rei to be in a good mood, contagious to others.

Rei and Lily went down to the Great Hall. Minerva and Maggie finally sauntered down about thirty minutes later and when all of them had finished eating they went out to the Quidditch field. Minerva and Maggie had their own brooms, but they had to borrow school brooms for Lily and Rei.

"Is it really _that _important that I learn to fly? I mean, once I'm 17 I can just Apparate everywhere." complained Lily.

"Flying is an important skill for anyone." stated Minerva.

"Besides who says you'll be able to Apparate correctly?" teased Rei smiling. Lily shoved her and grabbed her broom.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Lily marched out onto the field followed by the other girls.

"Ok, so first thing is to not be afraid. You won't be able to fly if you're scared of it." instructed Minerva. "So take a couple deep breaths. And remember, Maggie and I can fly well and between the two of us we can catch you if you happen to fall."

Lily grimaced. She didn't like the idea of falling, but felt slightly better knowing that they wouldn't let her break her neck, so she nodded and gripped the broom just like the other three were doing.

Lily kicked off the ground less awkwardly than she had during flying classes but still not with the grace that the older girls possessed.

"It just takes practice! You're doing fine!" shouted Maggie from about five feet below.

Lily shut her eyes and inhaled the fresh Hogwarts air. Exhaling she opened her eyes, now determined to fly better. She got more used to it after a couple hours, but was slightly discouraged by how much more quickly Rei seemed to be getting it than she was. Maybe it was a personality thing. Madam Hooch had said that some people were more adept at flying than others because they were more outgoing; less afraid of things.

Then Rei yelled the one thing that would help Lily the most. "Lily! Think of it as defying gravity! Isn't that amazing? How many other people can do this?"

Lily grinned back at Rei and flew straight into the air, her fear leaving her as she zoomed past the fluffy, white clouds. When she came back down the other girls started clapping midair. "See? I knew you could do it!" shouted Minerva. They landed soon after since it was almost dinner time. Walking back up to the castle, they talked about how much fun flying was. Lily was sure it would never be her favorite mode of transportation or recreation, but she was glad she could handle it all the same. Lily went to bed that night feeling very accomplished at having mastered her fear.

_**Maggie**_

"NOOOOO!" screeched Maggie as the black-hooded figure grabbed her mother's arm. There was a flash of light and her mother fell. Maggie sat up with a start. Looking around she realized she was in her own bed. 'It was only a dream Maggie. Chill out." she said to herself as she wiped the perspiration off her forehead. Suddenly the curtains of her four-post bed were pulled back and Maggie yelled again, still shaken from her nightmare.

"It's only me." she heard Minerva whisper. Minerva handed her a cold washcloth and sat on the edge of her bed. "You were talking in your sleep again... and yelled." Selene then rushed into the room and to Maggie's bedside.

"Here's some water. And I met this house elf on the way and she told me to give you some chicken soup too..." said Selene, slightly confused. "I don't know what good that does for nightmares though..."

Maggie gave a half-smile, "Good ole' Binkie. Listen, I'm sorry I woke you guys up again. I can't seem to get these images out of my head."

"Don't apologize," said Minerva, "You've been through a lot. But this has been going on increasingly lately, so maybe you should... you know... talk to someone, like a professional. You can't keep getting only 2 hours of sleep every night. You'll wear yourself out and have to stay in the hospital wing for the rest of the year."

Maggie grimaced. She didn't like this suggestion, even though it seemed like the proper thing to do. "Maybe I'll just see how it goes for a couple more weeks..." she said to Minerva and Selene's skeptical faces. "If I keep having the nightmares I'll ask your mom about it, Minerva." The other two reluctantly agreed, stating that they were just worried about her. Maggie sighed as they started to get dressed for the day. She wished she could make the dreams stop on her own.

Toward the middle of the day, Maggie, Rei, Lily and Minerva were all at the lake, watching the giant squid lounge around and they were also doing homework. Maggie had been uncharacteristically silently the entire time when she suddenly wailed, "I'm gonna be late!" The other girls barely managed to look bewildered as Maggie took off toward the castle.

She was supposed to meet John in the library so that they could talk about what had happened a couple nights ago. Maggie had been successfully avoiding him up until now. She had needed time to think. "Will you three be okay without me?" she yelled up to her friends as if just realizing she was leaving randomly. Everyone screamed yes and told her to go, not wanting things with John to be ruined for her. Ever since her mom, Lily, Minerva, Rei, and especially John seemed to be the only things capable of making Maggie laugh or even smile. She hadn't been doing much of either anymore.

"Frick, frick, frick," muttered Maggie under her breath, stuffing a book into her bag, or at least attempting to.

"Hey! Careful there, Mag!" screeched Professor Breaux as Maggie nearly stabbed her with the book edge.

"Sorry Breaux! I'm just in a hurry!" Maggie kept walking but waved an apology in Breaux's general direction.

Maggie paused right before entering the library to try and tame her curly hair. Scowling at her herself for not leaving enough time to make herself look presentable, Maggie gave up and walked into the library. She glanced around and made her way back to the table where she and John usually sat in front of the Magical International Travel books. John was already there, looking slightly uncomfortable and staring blankly at his Potions book in front of him.

"Hey," John said looking up from his Potions homework when he heard Maggie come up. Maggie took the seat across from John.

"Hi."

"Look, I know you've been avoiding me since the incident and if you don't want to take our friendship in that direction, I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to have done it."

"Shut up," interrupted Maggie, surprising John. "It wasn't stupid. I just wasn't prepared, but now I am."

"Stop making it sound like a business transaction!" screeched Sean Somers from behind a book case.

"Sean?"

"Somers! This is a library!" yelled Madam Pince. Sean glared at her before giving John a thumbs up and leaving the library, muttering about old women not understanding young love.

John rolled his eyes, wondering how he got mixed up with all these crazy Gryffindors. He glanced at Maggie and then said, "So, we're, okay?"

Maggie grinned. "I think we're more than okay."

"So…" John trailed off. "Can I refer to you as my girlfriend? Like we're going steady?"

"Um, I guess," Maggie said. She was still unsure how this entire thing worked but feeling better than she had in a while. Eventually, she and John left the library and he walked her down to the Gryffindor portrait hole so she could meet up with the girls. When he kissed her goodbye, Maggie felt much the same way Lily had about defying gravity.

_**Minerva**_

As it was near the end of the term and she was going to be starting her third year, Minerva McGonagall was currently worrying about what classes she was going to take her third year. Arithmancy was for sure, but definitely not Divination. She wanted to have a few classes with Maggie, but Maggie hadn't said what she taking yet. Minerva didn't know what she wanted to be when she grew up. All she knew was that she loved Transfiguration. "Maggie!" she said sharply as her friend came through the portrait hole, "What are you taking next year?"

Maggie looked dumbfounded. "I haven't even looked at the choices!" She sat down in dismay and looked through the course list. "Minnie… I'm just going to quit school and start a band." Maggie threw down her quill and folded her arms as if it was all decided.

Minerva gave her a look that meant she clearly was not amused. "Oh come on! Like I would ever be in a band! This is important! I want you in my classes! Decide!"

"Fine! Geez, Minnie, you don't have to be grouchy about it." Maggie picked up the course list as Minerva apologized. "Can I at least have until the end of the day?"

"Of course. Here." Minerva handed her a piece of parchment. "I've highlighted the courses I'm thinking about taking in green and starred the ones I think you'll like in blue." Maggie stared at her in disbelief. "Enjoy." smiled Minerva.

At the end of the day Minerva decided to go get her mom's advice on a couple of the classes she couldn't decide on. When she got to her mother's office however, she saw a boy with jet black hair pressing his ear up to the door. "What are you doing?" hissed Minerva.

"Shhh!" whispered the boy. "I'm trying to figure out what's going on with Thomas Bagnold. He was taken out of today and then Mom left class and just told us to go study in the library! I thought it was highly suspicious so... I followed."

"I haven't seen you hardly all year and then you just turn up... Wait..." said Minerva slowly. "Bruce, are you talking about Bagnold as in the Mistress of Magic Bagnold?"

As her older brother nodded, Minerva's eyes got wide and she also pressed her ear against the door, hoping that the minister hadn't met a bad end.

Inside, Professor McGonagall was saying, "... who will take over? They can't just take Dumbledore from us."

"He'd never leave. I hear he's already getting tons of owls asking for advice and begging him to become Minister," came Breaux's voice.

"I can't believe that his followers managed to kill the Minister's whole family. What about poor little Thomas?" came Professor Tenet, the Herbology teacher's voice.

"He has grandparents in France..." Flitwick's voice said sadly.

Minerva and Bruce looked at each other. Bruce whispered, "I heard them say that Voldemort did it."

"He killed Maggie's mom, too."

Bruce nodded. "Mom told me that Maggie's staying with us until she graduates Hogwarts." He paused. "This is getting really serious, Minerva. If people are trying to get Dumbledore to leave Hogwarts they must be really worried."

"There is no chance of my leaving Hogwarts," said a slightly amused voice from behind the siblings. Minerva and Bruce both jumped and sheepishly turned to face Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled. "Now, you both are far too young to be worrying about a bunch of old people's problems. I want both of you to take a brisk walk outside and enjoy your youth while you can." That said, Dumbledore swept inside the classroom and waiting to close the door until Bruce and Minerva walked away, both with their mouths agape.

Bruce folded his arms. "Too young!" he snorted.

"We're already being affected by it," Minerva trailed off, thinking of Maggie.

Glancing over, Bruce saw how upset his sister was and put his arm around her shoulders. "Look, Min, maybe Dumbledore is right. With the path this thing seems to be heading down, we won't be able to enjoy ourselves for much longer. Let's just take it while we can, okay? Especially you."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Especially me?"

"Yep. As your older brother, I am going to require you to stop trying to act Mom's age."

"Hey!" exclaimed Minerva, trying to wriggle free from her brother, but to no avail.

Laughing a little forcibly, Bruce said, "Listen, I'll tell you why you haven't seen me all year. It may just cheer you up. I know that you didn't like my girlfriend, Danielle." At the girl's name Minerva's mouth turned into a thin line. "Well, third week into the school year, she dumped me for a fifth year. I didn't want you to see how upset I was, but mainly I just didn't want you to know that you were right. Your ego about your cleverness doesn't need to be inflated anymore."

"My head is not inflated and how just how thick are you? I wouldn't have said 'I told you so'! I would have been there for you because I know how much you like the hussy!" Minerva practically yelled the last word and then clapped her hand over her mouth as though she had just let a disgusting swear word slip. Bruce starting laughing, for real this time and soon enough Minerva followed suit. Maybe Dumbledore was right. Bruce and Minerva walked back to the Gryffindor common room arm-in-arm and Bruce hung out with Minerva and her friends for the rest of the day. Neither sibling realized how much they had missed the other's company until that night. Minerva felt better than she had in days; she wasn't even that worried about her classes next year now.

_**Rei**_

Rei Esmeralda Scorch did not like not knowing things. She was at dinner with Lily, currently watching James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, discussing something with their heads lowered. 'They are always up to something,' Rei thought to herself. However, the last time she had seen them this deep in conversation, Mr. Filch's office had been filled with dungbombs, as had the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was. The time before that was when they had tried to prank the girls. 'Well, if they think they can get us again, they've got another thing coming!'

"Rei?" asked Lily, waving a hand in front of her face.

Rei blinked. "Sorry."

"Staring at Remus again?"

"I swear, they are up to no good!" Rei huffed.

Lily rolled her eyes. "As long as they leave us out of it, it's them in detention and not us. Ignore them. Besides, we're both done. Let's go find Maggie and Minerva." Rei stood up and walked out of the Great Hall with Lily, neither girl realizing that four boys were watching them.

They ambulated to the Common Room and found Maggie, Minerva, their roommate Selene and a black haired boy with sharp eyes like Minerva all playing an intense game of Exploding Snap.

"That must be Minerva's brother." said Lily.

"What a cutie!" exclaimed Rei, causing Lily to roll her eyes. When they reached the foursome, Minerva made formal introductions and all continued playing late into the night.

Finally Bruce yawned, stretched, and said, "Well, I have to get up early for classes. I think I took too many this year. Maybe I'll drop Arithmancy next year... Anyway, see all of you later!" With that he waved, smiled a dazzling white smile, and went upstairs to the fourth year dorms.

One by one the other girls went to bed also. Soon Rei was left by herself in the common room. She sat staring into the fire, watching the flames flicker and spark. She twirled her finger absentmindedly, causing the flames to jump higher and spin in circles. 'Maybe I should just come out and tell them about the fairy thing... they probably wouldn't care. Then again, Mom had some problems with some friends when they found out.' Finally Rei gave up thinking about it and went upstairs to bed.

The next morning Rei awoke to an odd squeaking noise. She looked around to see what it was. She heard Lily say, "Rei! What is that?" Their roommates, Sarah, Mary, and Emma, were both up now too glancing around fearfully. Since it was not yet light out the four girls grabbed their wands and muttered "lumos" for some light. The squeaking intensified and seemed to come from above. Looking up Rei saw at least 30 live bats flying around their ceiling, swooping down around their beds. All four girls yelled at once.

"Those mean, hateful boys! I'll bet anything THEY did this!" shrieked Rei. Lily tried to make a run for it out the door, nearly getting clobbered by a bat in the process. Emma tried heroically to open the window hoping the winged creatures would fly out. Unfortunately, they all seemed to want to stay inside, so the three remaining girls threw their arms over their heads and bolted out the door also. "Okay, first of all those stupid boys will DIE tonight! And second, how are we going to get those bats out of there?" exclaimed Rei from the safety of the common room.

Maggie, Minerva and Selene stumbled downstairs, having heard Rei yell. Maggie was sporting a tank top with a lion on it and pants decorated with little snitches. Minerva was yawning as she pulled a robe over her red flannel pajamas and Selene was wearing a long over-sized shirt. "We heard you yell and then saw you guys run downstairs," Selene said, wiping sleep from her eyes.

"They put bats in our dorm! Bats!" screeched Lily.

Maggie yawned. "I like bats. I'll get 'em out!" she marched up the stairs with her wand out, looking like she was going into battle.

Minerva sighed, looking at the other girls. "Maggie gets very reckless when she's tired." At everyone's uneasy looks, Minerva said, "Don't worry. She's good with animals. She'll be fine, besides bats don't hurt people."

"Where'd the bats come from?" asked Selene.

Sarah looked at Rei. "Rei said something about boys?"

"Oh! You must mean that James Potter and Sirius Black!" huffed Emma. "I overheard them talking the other day about how they were going to get the 'articles' into 'Area G', whatever that rubbish means!"

"Was the nice one in on this?" demanded Lily, meaning Remus.

"If you mean Lupin, I think he was trying to tell them not to. I didn't pay attention, I figured they were going to do something to the Slytherins."

"We must get them back," muttered Rei, plans of revenge filling her head.

Lily said through gritted teeth, "But if we retaliate we'll get detention, and if we don't, they'll just keep at it. We can't win either way!"

"Well," Selene said slowly, "They probably won't tell on you because they won't want everyone knowing that a bunch of girls got the best of them."

"Selene's theory is sound," declared Maggie, coming down the staircase with a bat resting comfortably on her head. She pointed to it, saying, "I'm going to call her Gertrude. The rest left, but I think she's lonely."

"You can't keep a bat!" exclaimed Mary, Sarah and Lily.

Maggie pouted. "I can so! She's just like an owl… only not, feathery…"

Selene looked amused. "Mags, how much sleep did you get?"

Sitting down, her face scrunched in thinking, Maggie said, "Two, maybe three hours?"

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Okay Maggie, I'm sure Dumbledore will let you keep the apparently tame bat in the Owlery. Other girls... good luck on getting the guys back. Let me in on the plan and I'll be your eyes and ears as far as keeping you out of trouble for it!"

Rei smiled widely, shocked that Minerva was agreeing to such a thing. 'This next prank will be great!' she thought to herself.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: Please see first chapter.**_

_**Chapter Eight: Sharing is Caring**_

_**Lily**_

Lily was angry all day at having been woken up in such a horrid manner. She couldn't even concentrate properly in classes due to trying to think up a revenge plan fitting enough for the boys. It was in Potions class when Lily got her first big break. She was done, having already found her niche in Potions and Charms. Flipping through one of Slughorn's more advanced books, Lily found the perfect potion. An uncharacteristically evil grin spread from ear to ear.

"Rei," she said, nudging her friend who was adding the finishing touches to her own potion, which wasn't quite the right shade of lavender... Rei seemed near hopeless at Potions and constantly said that if it wasn't for Lily she would fail.

"What?" asked Rei. Lily showed her the book and Rei's grin soon matched Lily's. "Lily, I always knew you were an evil genius."

Professor Slughorn came over and praised Lily's potion as usual. Severus Snape, sharing a table with them, also had a perfect potion. He only had a few criticisms on Rei's and was about to leave the table when Lily said, "Professor? Could I borrow this book, please? It's really interesting."

Slughorn chuckled. "Anything for one of my best students!" He walked away and was suddenly appalled at how horribly James and Sirius's potions had turned out. "Boys, boys. What am I going to do with you?"

Lily and Rei exchanged satisfied glances and even giggled when Severus snorted at the other boys in disgust. His potion was, as Lily's, perfect. James looked, mortified, over at Lily. Remus Lupin, sharing a table with his two friends and Peter Pettigrew, just rolled his eyes and told the boys that they could have done it right if they hadn't been trying to overhear the conversation between Lily and Rei.

The other boys simply shushed Remus and hurriedly went back to looking at their text book. After class was over for the day Lily and Rei ran up to their dorm bursting with excitement over the new plan that was quickly being formed in their minds. Maggie and Minerva were already in the Common Room; Maggie was sitting cross-legged on the floor by the fire pouring over her transfiguration homework, while Minerva was in the cushy chair almost lazily practicing turning buttons into butterflies. Maggie's new bat was flying around eating the butterflies as fast as Minerva was making them.

Maggie glared around at her, "Must you continuously do that? Some of us can't memorize transfiguration spells in our sleep."

"Geez, sorry. No need to snap." Minerva put down her wand.

"Sorry, I just didn't get this done because I was hanging out with John last night."

Rei, practically running, plopped down next to Maggie saying, "Yeah, yeah, we'll talk about how dreamy Johnny-boy is later. Lily and I have a wondrous plan of revenge."

Maggie looked slightly shocked, but just nodded saying "Let's hear it."

Lily sat on the arm of Minerva's chair and pulled out the borrowed potions book, flipping to the marked page. The other girls gathered around to see what was so exciting. "The Gender Bender Potion?" exclaimed Minerva, a bit too loud. Luckily the only two other people in the room were listening to the Wizarding Wireless Radio. "SHHH!" hissed Rei, "Lily found it and I really think we could pull this off."

"Okay, assuming we can make this potion, how are we supposed to get them to actually drink it?" asked Maggie.

"Well, we thought we could leave it anonymously with a note attached. Like a secret admirer type thing. Potter and Black have big enough egos for that." answered Lily.

The girls stayed up late planning the rest of the finer details, after Maggie's essay was finished. Lily went to bed that night feeling ten times better than she had when she woke up and drifted into a peaceful slumber right after Rei said, "Those boys will never know what hit them."

_**Maggie**_

The next morning, Maggie woke up excited. It wasn't because of the prank she was helping Rei and Lily pull, but because in her first class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were practicing against a Boggart today. Boggarts turned into a person's worst fear. Maggie had no idea what she was afraid of, so she figured this would be a good learning experience. Plus, she loved doing new things in DADA. Maggie threw on her school robes, grabbed her bag, and went downstairs to the Common Room where Minerva and Selene were waiting on her. "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked.

Selene shrugged. "You still have twenty minutes, plus it was the first night you've had where you didn't have bad dreams."

Maggie paused. She really didn't remember any of her dreams last night. Maybe the nightmares were finally going away. 'Hopefully,' she thought. "Let's go get some breakfast then, since we're all up."

The three girls were about three feet outside the portrait hole when Maggie and Minerva were grabbed from behind. Out of instinct, Maggie brought her hand up, breaking her assailant's nose and Minerva hit behind her, hitting whoever it was in the crotch. A couple summers ago, Maggie's mother had enrolled both Maggie and Minerva in a Muggle self defense class, figuring it would come in handy at some point.

"You broke by nodse!" James said thickly and trying to glare at Maggie. However, he also looked a little impressed at the girls' quick reactions.

Sirius was kneeling down in the fetal position. "Minerva broke my manhood," he moaned. Selene, meanwhile, couldn't move because she was laughing too hard.

"I'm sorry!" gasped Maggie, taking James by the elbow and leading him up to the hospital wing. Why were she and Minerva so paranoid?

"I'm not. What were you two doing, scaring us like that?" demanded Minerva as she hauled Sirius to his feet with Selene's help and following Maggie.

"We just wanted to know what Lily and Rei are up to!" wailed Sirius (Minerva had him by the ear).

Selene snorted. "Like they'd tell you."

James looked down, making blood go everywhere and his face was quickly jerked back up by Maggie. "We dought dat dey would tell us if we surprided dem," he said, or tried to say.

"What is this!" Shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "You two are in here again?" Apparently, Sirius and James were in the hospital wing every three days, according to the yelling.

"James took my sock and I got mad at him," Sirius said quickly, saving them both from the embarrassment of being beat up by the girls and saving the girls from getting into any trouble.

Madam Pomfrey mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Idiots", but took both boys to hospital beds anyway and then shooed the girls out.

Selene was still giggling. "That was awesome."

Minerva just sighed while Maggie said, "At least Rei and Lily will be happy." She then checked her watch. "Hate to break it to you girls, but we don't have time to eat."

"We can grab a snack after class. How much time do we have to get there?" asked Minerva.

Maggie began power-walking. "About five minutes." Minerva and Selene took off at run. The Defense Against the Dark Arts room was on the other side of the castle. Maggie gave them a head start before she began running and pulled ahead of her friends. "You two really need to start running with me," she said.

"It hurts!" Selene gasped.

Maggie rolled her eyes and suddenly slipped on the floor. "Filth!" screamed Filch, who had been mopping. Selene and Minerva tripped on Maggie and the three slid into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. "Oww," Maggie said, rubbing her head.

"Well at least you were fashionably late," Breaux sighed as she helped the girls up.

_**Minerva**_

Minerva groaned as Breaux hauled her up. "Sorry," she mumbled. As if she needed any more attention. During classes, Minerva really liked to lay low so that no one would think she was getting special treatment. Breaux led everyone down the hall to an empty room filled with only a wardrobe. "All right," she said, "Everyone remember the spell? Focus on what you're most afraid of and make it funny somehow. The boggart cannot hurt you."

"I don't know what I'm frightened of!" hissed Minerva to Selene and Maggie who were trying to dry off their robes.

"Me either," shrugged Maggie. "Just go with it."

Selene shuddered. "I guess you two will just have to see mine."

The three were toward the back of the line and while they were waiting, they saw some pretty weird things. Trey Reyett, a Gryffindor second year, had what looked like a Muggle mail man appear in front of him (a dog bit his ankle to make him go away). Trey's roommate, Dylan, had the boggart turn into a banshee, who suddenly got tangled up in her long black hair. Lucius Malfoy, a second year Slytherin, was faced with a hippogriff, that he could not make vanish. Mildred Frankenfort, another Slytherin, confronted a duck. One mummy, a wolf, a flock of crows and a Grim later, it was Selene's turn.

Everyone in the room looked confused as the Boggart turned into a doll with curly hair and wearing a pink dress. It held a hammer and said, "I want to play," in a child's voice. Selene looked like she was ready to vomit as she shouted, "Riddikulus!" and the doll was set on fire.

Minerva took her turn. The boggart turned into an older version of Minerva. She had her hair in a severe bun and was yelling at everyone to stop being so loud in the halls. She assigned them all a life time of detention before the young Minerva yelled "Riddikulus!" and the old Minerva was suddenly wearing beach clothing and sunglasses.

"That was weird," She whispered to Selene.

Selene nodded, "I don't know if I can room with you anymore."

"I'll get you a doll," Minerva grinned. Selene glared.

Maggie stepped up, unsure of what was going to happen. Everyone in the room gasped. Suddenly, there were two Minervas in the room. One was alive and well, staring up front in horror. The other lay in front of Maggie, dead on the floor. Maggie tried the spell, but she was so shocked that she could get it out and the boggart turned into Lily dead and finally Rei before Maggie got the spell right and Rei jumped up, yelling that she was just kidding. Minerva's insides went cold. Her friend's fear was something legitimate, something that could really happen. It was serious. It made everyone else's fears seem like mere child play.

Horrified, Maggie went to the back of the room refusing to speak to anyone. She had barely reached her destination when Sean Sommers burst in, saying he had a message for Breaux. The boggart turned into a clown. "NO!" screamed Sean and ran outside, yelling. The class laughed and soon Maggie's boggart was forgotten by most of them.

Shortly after, Breaux sent everyone out, but told Maggie to stay behind. Minerva tried to stay as well, but was shooed out. She sighed, walking to her next class. What else was going to go wrong today?

By lunch time, Maggie still wasn't back, so Minerva sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for Lily and Rei. As soon as they sat down , she spilled the whole story. "And then it turned into Rei before she finally got the spell right. It was so weird of Maggie to not get something in that class on the first try. And she must still be really worried about losing everyone because of her mom. I knew she wasn't telling me something. She hasn't been herself since it happened." Minerva felt like she hadn't been doing her job as Maggie's best friend. She slumped in her seat while Lily and Rei looked stunned.

"Should we try talking to her about it?" asked Lily.

"Hmm..." thought Minerva out loud. "Maybe we should... but I don't want it to be too awkward for her either. Let's just see what happens when she comes back." The other two nodded in agreement. Unfortunately Maggie did not show up for lunch.

"We'll meet you in the common room as soon as classes are done." Said Rei to Minerva as she and Lily went the opposite way for their next class. Minerva continued to Charms by herself, trying to think of what to say to Maggie, after all, none of them had ever had to deal with anything like this before. Maggie did eventually appear in Charms, but gave Minerva a look that clearly said that they'd talk later.

_**Rei**_

Rei was having a hard time concentrating during Herbology. She was much too preoccupied with thoughts of Maggie and what to say to her when she finally saw her. Rei had never had anyone she was close to die, so she didn't know how to handle this, which also irritated her. She hated not knowing things. She tried to remember what people said to her father when her grandmother died, but she was just too young to remember that far back and she had only seen her grandmother a few times, so she wasn't very upset about it.

"SCORCH!" shouted Professor Tenet, a short witch who was not only the Herbology professor but also the head of Hufflepuff House. Rei was shaken out of her reverie and looked up at Tenet guiltily. "That's better. Now put on these gloves so we can repot the Venus rattraps. They make some nasty marks if you get bit, so everyone BE ALERT!" The class pulled on their gloves and started pulling the toothy plants out of their pots. Lily paid close attention now so that she wouldn't get bitten. By the end of class a few of the Ravenclaws had some minor scratches, and one Gryffindor boy (Peter Pettigrew) dropped a plant, which proceeded to bite his ankle. Blood sprayed all over the ground, which Professor Tenet cleaned up with a swish of her wand, and the boy was sent to the hospital wing for Madam Pomfrey to fix up.

The class ended early so Lily and Rei ran up to their dorm to put up their things before Maggie and Minerva got there. Then they staked out the secluded seats in the corner of the room and laid out some chocolate frogs for them to munch on. Soon the older girls walked into the common room. Lily waved them over.

When they sat down Maggie said, "So I guess Minnie told you about my little incident in Defense today?" Lily and Rei nodded, not quite sure what to say next. "It's okay. I'm sorry I scared all of you." said Maggie, her head down.

Minerva put an arm around Maggie's shoulder, "No! Don't be sorry. I'm sorry for not being better at talking to you about things and just so you know, I'm ready to listen to anything that's bothering you from now on." Lily and Rei both got up and hugged Maggie at the same time.

"You've been through more than any of us Maggie. It's only natural for you to be so affected by your mom's... passing." said Lily, trying to phrase "death" more nicely.

Maggie's eyes were watering now and she said softly, "Thank you guys. I just don't want anyone else to die..."

Minerva looked around at all of them, "Well, I think it's safe to say that the three of us aren't going anywhere anytime soon. So just get used to having us around!" Maggie managed a small smile.

"So where did Breaux take you for so long?" asked Lily, "If you don't mind saying, of course."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "She took me to Honeydukes because she said that chocolate fixes everything and then she took me to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and we talked. She told me that she lost both her parents when she was young…" Maggie sighed and looked at the ground again rather than her friends. "It just really sucks that I never even got the chance to meet my dad. I don't even know if he wanted me or if something else happened. Mom never wanted to talk about it."

Minerva sighed and put her hand over Maggie's. "I barely see my dad. He's a minister in Scotland and couldn't handle having a witch for a wife. He didn't think the town members would take kindly to it. It wasn't fair for Mum to have to live in secrecy, so she took Bruce and I and left. We get along fine, but I never know if he secretly doesn't like me because I'm a witch. Parents are complicated."

About an hour later, Minerva and Lily both climbed the girls' staircase, yawning. Maggie and Rei didn't feel tired at all. Rei got up and began to pace. "We need to do something, Maggie."

"Like what?" asked Maggie. She was currently lying across an armchair with her legs dangling over the side.

"Like go on an adventure!" exclaimed Rei. She'd been stuck inside the castle for far too long and was starting to feel antsy.

Maggie shrugged. "I'm in. Do you want to go to Hogsmeade?"

"Don't we have to be third years… and on a trip?"

"John and Sean go by themselves. There's a secret passage behind a statue of the one eyed witch," Maggie trailed off. To tell the truth, she didn't want to sit around and she didn't want to sleep either.

"Let's do it!" exclaimed Rei excitedly. The two girls grabbed some money and they were out of the common room door.

Maggie was carefully peeking around corners. "We have to be careful not to run into Filch or any of the teachers."

They were doing well until they got to the statue of the one eyed witch. Maggie showed Rei how to open it. Rei was almost bursting with anticipation. She always thought that Maggie would be more like Minerva and Lily and stick to the rules. Maggie surprised her tonight. 'I guess we all have a wild side,' Rei thought to herself. Rei pointed toward the name plate for the statue, but as she did, fire came out of her finger tips, splaying all over the hall and causing a few of the portraits to scream.

Rei paled. What if Maggie saw?

If she did, she didn't say anything. Maggie was listening for footsteps. She pushed Rei into the passageway and dove in after her. "Shush. I think I hear Filch. He doesn't know that this passage way is here and we need to keep it that way."

Rei made a small squeak. Why had she gotten so excited? They listened to Filch scream about scorch marks and how he would hang whoever did that to his precious floor before he finally stalked away. Maggie nodded to Rei and the two girls walked for about thirty seconds before Maggie asked, softly, "Rei, how did you do it? With the fire?"

Rei bit her lip. There was no getting around this. She couldn't directly lie to Maggie… or Minerva and Lily for that matter. "I'm not like everyone else," she whispered.

Maggie stopped as she and Rei came to a ladder. "Of course not. You're amazing, you prat."

On the verge of tears, Rei looked at Maggie. "You, you can't tell anyone. If you don't want to talk to me anymore, I'll understand, but you can't tell." Rei took a deep breath. "Remember that one day, we were all talking about fairies in the Great Hall? Remus asked how I knew so much about them. I sort of… didn't tell him the entire truth."

Maggie was now facing Rei. She motioned for her friend to go on.

Wringing her hands, Rei continued. "I was interested in them as a kid… because I am one. Or half really. My mom is a fire fairy. She's, she's actually a fairy princess, as stupid as that sounds. We're of the fire element. My powers are supposed to stabilize once I hit puberty. That's why I set things on fire… like when we got to the witch statue, I just got too excited. Anyway, my mom fell in love with my dad, a human wizard. Right now my grandparents are ruling the fire fairy kingdom…but when they pass, my parents will have to move there."

"So," Maggie said carefully, "can you turn into a fairy?"

Rei nodded. With a small pop, Rei was suddenly about a foot tall (she was bigger than most fairies since she was only half) and had wings made of fire. Her clothing consisted of what looked like leaves. Another pop and she was back to normal, in her school uniform. She waited fearfully for Maggie to say something.

Maggie said nothing, only hugged Rei. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Well, nevermind, that's a dumb question. I'm just so glad you told me! This is so cool!"

"You, you don't think I'm a freak?"

"No!" exclaimed Maggie. "Rei, this is amazing." After a few more minutes, the two girls continued up the ladder, Rei chatting more animatedly than ever before. Maybe she would even tell the other girls tomorrow. The two girls ventured up to the Three Broomsticks since it was still open and got a Butterbeer. Madam Rosemerta, the new owner's daughter, served them and turned a blind eye. She knew they were at Hogwarts, but she knew that girls needed to have fun every once and while.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer: Please see first chapter.**_

_**Chapter Nine: Revenge is so Sweet!**_

_**Lily**_

While Rei and Maggie were out talking to Rosemerta at the Three Broomsticks , Lily was laying in bed reading about the Gender Bender potion in greater detail. Lily took out a fresh piece of parchment and started making a list of ingredients. The boomslang and the snailtail berries were going to be hard to get. Students can't just order powerful ingredients like those. The other things wouldn't be nearly as tricky. 'Maybe Minerva will have some ideas about how to get these without us getting kicked out of school.' thought Lily to herself, making a mental note to ask her in the morning. 'This potion might also take awhile…. and we'll have to somehow make a fire of 324 degrees exactly.' By this time Lily's head was starting to hurt from being up for so long and so late, not to mention trying to figure out all the details of the potion, which was now looking more complicated than Lily originally thought. Lily folded the parchment and put it in her nightstand along with the book, turned the light off, and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Lily woke up feeling much more refreshed than she expected. She went down to the common room to find very few people there, so she continued onto the Great Hall. Minerva was already there eating oatmeal and reading her Transfiguration book.

"Hey Min!" said Lily, taking the seat next to her.

"Oh hey…" said Minerva, barely looking up from her book.

"What's so interesting?"

"I'm reading about the Animagi. You know, people turning into animals. It's extremely interesting."

"Are you even learning about that in class now?"

"Well, no… but it's in this book so I started reading and just can't put it down."

"Oookay, well, listen," said Lily lowering her voice, "we need to figure out how we can get a hold of boomslang and snailtail berries. Also, we need to find a way to make a 324 degree fire to boil the potion in for 2 days."

"We can do that in Myrtle's bathroom," said Maggie, sitting down next to them with Rei.

Rei sighed and glanced at Maggie. They both looked tired, but happy. "I can do the fire bit." Over the summer, Rei's mom taught her how to increase the heat in her fire. Fairy fire was normally about 297 degrees so 324 shouldn't be too big a change.

"How?" asked Lily and Minerva. Neither of them had read a spell about fire degrees yet.

Rei looked around to see who could hear. "I'll tell you when we get to the bathroom."

Lily glanced at her friend. What was going on? And who was Myrtle?

A few hours later…

"Ooooohh!" sobbed a see-through girl with pigtails. "Why did you wait so long to see me, Maggieeee?" she wailed.

"I was in classes, Myrtle," Maggie sighed, exasperated already.

"You just don't like me anymore!" Myrtle screamed and then went down the toilet.

Rei looked stunned. "That was… special."

Lily couldn't help it. She giggled. "Myrtle is a ghost?"

Maggie nodded and lowered her voice. "A lot of people have taken to calling her Moaning Myrtle because, well, you saw. She's kind of nice when she's in a good mood. Anyway, no one really comes down here because it's impossible to use the loo when someone is crying in your ear."

Nodding, Lily took out the potions book. "Ok, so Rei, what is this about the fire?"

After an encouraging nod from Maggie, Rei took a deep breath and told Minerva and Lily her secret. "But, Rei, that's nothing to be ashamed of!" Lily said in shock.

Minerva, however, nodded. "There are some in the Wizarding World who aren't receptive to non-humans learning magic, or having any rights at all. I understand why Rei didn't want to tell us."

Frowning, Lily flipped the potions book open. How could there be so much prejudice in such a wonderful world? She guessed that the prejudice was the downside to everything else. It just didn't make sense to her. She and Rei, a Muggle born and a fairy, were two of the best in the First Year class. A lot of the Pure Bloods they knew were having trouble keeping up. It just wasn't fair that a lot of people were against them.

_**Maggie**_

"We cannot just ask Breaux to help us! She is a teacher after all." Minerva was saying to Maggie as they walked to Transfiguration. "It's not like she's best friends with Slughorn anyway. He seems to disapprove of her."

"Well then, we'll just have to come up with our own diversi... wait! Isn't that little get-together of Slughorn's tonight?" asked Maggie in an excited whisper.

"Yes, but, but, I hate going to those things!" complained Minerva. "Look, I know it's weird and most of the other people there are admittedly a bit creepy, but it's our best chance to snag something while he's not so alert and watching our every move like in class."

"You're right. Ok, we'll both go. But I will be the one stealing and YOU will be the one making small talk with those stuck-up prats!" hissed Minerva. Maggie simply rolled her eyes as Professor McGonagall walked in and started class. Later that night Maggie and Minerva walked down to Slughorn's classroom to join in the festivities of the "Slug Club." Maggie wore a black long sleeved dress that stopped just above her knees while Minerva wore a dark green dress that was ankle length. When they reached the door they nodded at each other and went inside to find the classroom transformed into the usual Slug Club garb. The desks had been replaced with plush chairs and couches with little tables scattered around and a roaring fire in the hearth. Lucius Malfoy was standing by the fire talking to another Slytherin boy. He glared as Maggie and Minerva walked in. The girls glared right back and made their way to Slughorn to announce their presence.

"Ah! My two favorite Gryffindor girls!" Said Slughorn when he saw them. The girls grinned, asked how he was doing, and let him talk about a new potion he had just invented. During this little exchange Minerva excused herself to seemingly talk to someone else. Maggie saw her weave her way through the cliques of people. Minerva has a great way of going unnoticed when she wants to, thought Maggie to herself as she saw Minerva slip into the back of the room out of sight. Slughorn finished about his potion and started to turn away, but Maggie hadn't seen Minerva come back out yet, so she quickly asked Slughorn what he thought of the recent controversy over black-bottomed cauldrons. After what seemed like an eternity Minerva emerged from the back and slipped, again unnoticed, back into the midst of the party. Sighing with relief, Maggie cut off Slughorn, "Oh, sorry I'm really thirsty. I'm going to get some punch." She quickly made her way to Minerva who winked at her immediately. Smiling Maggie helped herself to some cauldron cakes and pumpkin juice. 'Maybe this prank will go more smoothly than we thought.' she said to herself.

It was at that moment when Maggie noticed that Severus Snape was there. She left Minerva's side and went to rescue Severus from Lucius Malfoy, who seemed to be making his way toward Snape, with some other Slytherins following. She drug Snape back over to Minerva saying, "Look who I found!"

"Hey, he hardly ever invites first years," Minerva said, smiling.

Snape flushed and said something along the lines of, "I did really well in class." The other Slytherins positioned themselves near enough so that the Gryffindor girls and Snape could hear what they were saying.

A tall boy with brown hair was telling Malfoy, "Who cares if they're in Gryffindor? They're pure blooded and far from bad looking."

Malfoy looked disgusted. "But they hang out with that Mudblood girl, Evans."

Three pairs of eyes turned to slits. Maggie and Snape actually turned around, while Minerva seemed to be having an intense battle with herself to stay calm. Snape had his wand out, but Maggie, drink in hand, walked right up to Lucius Malfoy and tripped causing him to fall over, into the food table. "Oh! I am so sorry. I'm such a klutz!" she exclaimed with a smile sweet enough to cause cavities.

Malfoy looked flabbergasted as he got up and tried to remove the pumpkin juice stains and food remnants from his robes. "You did that on purpose!" He said, taking out his wand.

"What's all this?" Slughorn said, coming over.

"She attacked me!" Malfoy said, pointing at Maggie.

Maggie's eyes got wide. "Professor, I tripped! Look, I even hurt my ankle," She moved toward Minerva and Severus, limping.

Slughorn helped Malfoy up and said, "Of course you did!" Slughorn had made it well known among the staff that Maggie Mirranoy and Minerva McGongall were two of the sweetest, most innocent students he had ever taught. "Minerva, Severus, help Maggie to the hospital wing, will you?" He took out his wand and with a sweep the table was back to normal. He tried cleaning Malfoy's robes, but nothing seemed to come off. "You may want to go and change, Lucius."

Maggie, flanked by Severus and Minerva, left the room. As soon as they rounded the corner, Maggie stopped limping. "What a git!" she said, almost spitting in rage. "I tried to kick him in the face, but the angle of the fall was off!"

Severus looked upset. "I don't understand all this. I didn't think the prejudice would be bad at Hogwarts. I figured once Lily got here and showed them all how brilliant she is, it would stop."

"It never really ends. My mom has been complaining about it for years," Minerva said with a sigh.

"Which of you put the sticking spell on Malfoy's robes?" Maggie asked after a minute of silence.

"Me," said Minerva and Severus at the same time. Both looked at the other and laughed.

Maggie giggled. "That's why Slughorn couldn't get it off."

_**Minerva**_

After she and Maggie said goodbye to Severus, Minerva heard two male voices call her. Minerva closed her eyes, disappointed that she and Maggie couldn't run immediately to the other girls and throw all the potion ingredients together. She opened her eyes and turned to see Sean and John running towards her.

"HA! I won!" shouted Sean to John as he reached the girls first.

John scoffed, "Only because you started first and THEN told me we were racing!"

As the boys continued bickering Maggie jumped in, "HEY! Why don't you tell us why you're here so that we can get on with our lives?"

John looked suspicious, "Why? What's so important?"

"Nothing. We're just.. busy.. with _girl_ stuff," emphasized Minerva.

The guys immediately shut up and said that Minerva's mom had requested her presence. "Right now?" whined Minerva.

"Yes. She was quite serious." nodded Sean.

So Minerva said goodbye to her friends and went upstairs to her mother's room. She ran into Bruce on the way. He didn't know what this was about either, so they tried guessing as they continued to the big maple wood door hidden behind a tapestry of Queen Windila the Wise, the last benevolent ruler of the Wizarding world. "Ladies first." gestured Bruce as Minerva rolled her eyes at him, said 'pork chops' to the tapestry, and opened the door. Inside was an entryway with paintings of Bruce, Minerva, and their mother, which Minerva always shook her head at for being front and center. Beyond that was an elegant, yet lived in room decorated in cool blues and greens. Isobel McGonagall was sitting at a small desk in a corner of the room.

She glanced up when they entered and smiled, "Good. You're both here. I have something important to discuss with you."

"Did someone die?" asked Bruce.

"NO!" said Isobel, shocked. "This is about a new addition to our family..." Isobel started.

Minerva and Bruce exchanged horrified glances. "Oh hell! You're pregnant? What the hell, Mom? I didn't even know you were seeing someone! And what a bad influence on us!"

Isobel looked as if she might smack her son, but instead just put her hand over his mouth. "I most certainly am not pregnant! You should know me better than that!"

"Really, Bruce. Geez." said Minerva, shaking her head at him.

"Sorry." Bruce apologized sheepishly.

Isobel glared at him, then started again, "Now, you both know about Maggie's mother. And you might know that we have not been able to locate any living relatives... so I filled out some papers, and with Dumbledore's recommendation, the Ministry of Magic has agreed to let me adopt Maggie officially. Are you two going to be okay with that?"

Bruce shrugged, "Whatever, she's with Minerva 24/7 anyway. No big diff."

Minerva was beside herself. She couldn't believe her mother was so great. All she could do was give her mom the biggest hug possible. Maggie would be so much better off with them than in some foster care system.

Isobel hugged her daughter back, "I'm glad you agree. Now go tell her!" Minerva nodded and ran off, hearing her mother say, "Now as for you young man..." But she didn't stop to hear Bruce get a good talking to about his outburst. Instead, she ran straight up to the Gryffindor Common Room, glanced around for Maggie, and upon finding her, ran up behind the chair she was sitting at, and hugged her.

"What's up?" asked Maggie looking startled.

Minerva grinned. She couldn't help it. She and Maggie were going to be sisters officially! "My mum is going to adopt you!"

"You, you're serious?" asked Maggie, looking like she didn't dare to believe it.

"She told me and Bruce just now!"

Maggie stood up with a squeal and soon she and Minerva were hugging, jumping and laughing. After a minute, both of them noticed Rei and Lily were suddenly jumping up and down with them. "What are we so happy about?" asked Rei.

"My mum is adopting Maggie!" said Minerva.

"I'm loved!" exclaimed Maggie at the same time.

Rei and Lily grinned. "That's so great!" They said together.

"I know!" said Maggie and Minerva.

The four girls then made their way to the bathroom to begin preparing for their sweet, sweet revenge. "This is going to make them never mess with us again!" cackled Rei, looking very cliché as she stirred the cauldron. The other girls giggled. Rei was wearing her witch's hat and had a speck of something on her nose that made them think of a wart. "What?" asked Rei.

"Dirt on your nose," laughed Minerva.

Maggie leaned over the cauldron. "Looks like this is all we can do for tonight. It has to stew for about nine hours."

"So, we should be good to go by dinner tomorrow," Lily said excitedly.

"That's the plan," smirked Minerva. Bending the rules, and your rivals' genders, was turning out to be quite fun.

Looking thoughtful, Rei said, "I'll come by in between classes tomorrow and make sure the fire is keeping the right temperature." Everyone agreed and they finally went to bed, dreams of screaming boy-girls filling their heads.

_**Rei**_

As it turned out, the Universe seemed very intent on Rei not checking the bathroom between every class. The first time she tried to go she was with Lily and they got caught up talking to Snape for about 10 minutes. Rei only had three minutes to check the fire. The second time, she was accosted by Sirius, James, and Remus, demanding to know why she was acting so "sketchy". It took her a good fifteen minutes before she finally said it was her "time of the month" and then ran away. She only had one minute to check the fire. The temperature was low, so she was late to Potions. Luckily, Professor Slughorn didn't seem to care. He was too busy raving over Snape's potion from last week.

"Why I've never seen such a young student make this potion as well as Severus! It's just marvelous! Look at the fine purple tinge!" Rei noticed Snape looking quite pleased with himself as she silently slid into her seat next to Lily.

"We haven't started anything yet, he's been going over the potion from last week for a good 10 minutes," whispered Lily.

Slughorn finally stopped praising Snape and started writing instructions for the day on the board. Meanwhile, James and Sirius had taken to shooting spitballs at the back of Snape's head. Lily rolled her eyes. Rei could tell she was getting angry.

"Don't worry. We'll get them back for everything they've done this year tonight!" whispered Rei.

Lily smiled evilly in the boys direction. Right after their last class of the day Rei and Lily went straight to the bathroom and found Maggie and Minerva already there. "It looks great!" grinned Maggie as the other two came over.

Rei checked the fire. It seemed to be just fine after her last tune up. "Ok, so this should be finished in about 20 minutes. So I'll be "late" for dinner so as to not arouse suspicion." started Maggie.

"Hold on," interrupted Lily, "exactly how are we going to switch the glasses without anyone noticing?"

Minerva suddenly beamed, "Oh! Why didn't I think of this before? I'll be the one who's late and I'll get Gibbit, my house elf buddy, to magic the potion up to the boys plates! You'll just have to let me know exactly where they're sitting."

"Brilliant! I can give you their seats! I come and go from the Great Hall all the time, so that won't be unusual," exclaimed Rei

. Rei, Lily, and Maggie then headed up to the Great Hall, leaving Minerva to divvy up the potion and go to the kitchens. The three girls took their seats and took careful notice of where James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting. As Rei gazed at Remus she almost hated to do this to him, but then again, he was in cahoots with the others.. Maggie passed Rei a piece of parchment with the locations of the boys' seats drawn on it. Rei carefully slid it into her robes and then bounded up from the table like she usually did at least once per meal. No one took notice. Rei walked swiftly down the hall and found Minerva "reading a book" by the painting of the fruit. When she heard Rei approach, Minerva glanced up and down the hall, shut her book, and tickled the pear.

The painting opened right as Rei stepped up to it. Once inside the house elves all gathered around them, asking them if they needed anything. "Well, can you do us a favor without telling anyone?" asked Minerva sweetly.

Some of the house elves looked nervous at this, but one rather short elf with huge ears came directly to Minerva and said, "Anything for you Ms. McGonagall ma'am."

"Oh, thank you Gibbet! I knew I could count on you!" said Minerva patting Gibbet on the back. She pulled out four little vials as Rei handed over the table drawing and quickly explained what she wanted Gibbet to do. Gibbet didn't seem to mind doing this and didn't even seem suspicious of their motives. He assured them that it would be done instantly.

"Actually, could you wait about 15 minutes and then do it?" smiled Rei. Gibbet obliged and the girls left and nearly ran to the Great Hall laughing the whole way. The girls walked in together and took their seats beside Lily and Maggie.

"Five minutes till show time." whispered Minerva as she hungrily grabbed three different dishes of food. The girls all tried to act normal, but none could resist flicking glances toward the boys every few seconds. Five minutes came and went without the boys noticing anything unusual. Then Peter leaned back in his chair with his hand on his stomach. The other three started looking slightly ill as well. All four stood and exited the Great Hall doubling over. Rei grinned excitedly at the other girls, who nodded and grinned back. They slowly rose and walked out as well to see if they could witness their genius plan in action.

The boys made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady in front of the Gryffindor Common room. All four looked like they were having bad stomach cramps. "Remus, what's wrong with your face?" demanded Sirius, his voice rising an octave.

"My face? Look at yours!" Remus retorted, voice also rising in pitch.

"Uh, guys?" Peter said, his voice unusually high. "It's all your faces." Indeed, the boys faces were becoming less defined, looking definitely more girlish than usual.

"Man, I don't know what we ate, but my chest hurts now too!" whined James.

Remus was looking amused now. "That's probably because you're growing breasts."

Sirius, James and Peter all balked as they looked down at themselves. Remus alone seemed to be unperturbed. "Oh for Merlin's sake! We're turning into girls! This is humiliating!" Sirius yelled. Around the corner, Maggie and Minerva exchanged a satisfied grin. Lily and Rei high-fived and then gave a thumbs up to their cohorts.

James rounded on Remus. "Why are you not panicking?"

"Well, I can say with some accuracy, that I am a much prettier girl than you," Remus said. James stared at him for a full minute before he realized that Remus was joking. "Look, it's got to be a potion or a spell. It's reversible."

"We can't very well get a professor to reverse it! I don't want anyone to see me like this!" squealed Peter.

Sirius sat on the floor. "This will ruin my reputation! I am supposed to be a man! Or a boy at least! Why would someone pick on us like this?"

James and Remus stared at Sirius. This was a side of him they had never seen before. They chalked it up to "girl emotions" and ignored him. "Oh," James said, staring off into space. "I bet it was the girls. Probably Maggie and Rei. They're definitely evil enough. Minerva and Lily are too innocent."

"Well, theoretically, it was only Rei and Lily because we played a prank on them, not Minerva and Maggie." Remus mused.

"This is seriously advanced magic! They're only first years. Maggie and Minerva had to help them out!" Sirius wailed. "I don't wanna be a girl! I wanna be a boy! I've been a boy for eleven years and that can't just change! I'll have to get a whole new wardrobe!"

"I agree with Sirius!" whined Peter.

Remus and James just sighed. "Ok, we have to go to a professor," Remus said.

"Fine, but we can't tell them who we think did this. I will not be humiliated by a bunch a of girls!" James turned on his heel and the four girls quickly hid behind a couple statues as the boys walked down the corridor past them.

Maggie began to laugh as soon as the boys were out of earshot. "The antidote takes two weeks to prepare!"

"That makes it even better!" exclaimed Lily, glad to have finally gotten back at the boys.

Rei grinned. This was great! Now, the boys would leave them alone, at least for the rest of the year.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Disclaimer: Please see first chapter.**_

_**Chapter 10: Out with a Bang!**_

_**Lily**_

During the last few weeks of school, Lily had rarely been happier. The friends she made this year seemed to form a bond that would last well after Hogwarts, she was doing well on her exams, and the revenge on the boys was divine. The day after the potion was administered, the boys immediately started wearing hoods, staying away from all other people, and keeping their mouths shut for a change. Sirius kept saying something about dragonpox when asked what was wrong, although there were whispers about the strange femininity that seemed to irradiate from the four boys.

"Ya know," came Rei's voice from directly behind Lily, causing her to drop her books in surprise. "AH!" Lily shrieked, "Don't whisper in my ear!" Rei laughed, "Sorry, man. Anyway, as I was saying... I think it's odd that the boys are hiding this so well. Do you think they're duct taping their new breasts down?" Lily looked slightly shocked then burst out laughing, "You know, I think they are!"

"What is duct tape?" asked Minerva. She and Maggie had just walked out of their last exam, Transfiguration.

"I have some in my trunk," sighed Rei. " I'll show you when we get to the Common Room. It's like they teach you nothing about how to get by in the Muggle World."

Minerva shrugged. "That's why I'm taking Muggle Studies next year."

Maggie, Lily and Rei rolled their eyes. "You could just ask one of us," Lily suggested.

"It fit in my schedule! Besides, I can always drop it fourth year if it turns out I don't need it."

At that moment, four hooded figures approached the girls. "You win," whispered Sirius Black. "At least for now."

Maggie and Rei's eyes got wide. "Sirius, what are you talking about?" They asked in unison.

Remus snorted as James said, "Oh, I think you know."

"Boys!" called Professor Slughorn from down the hall. "Meet me in my office unless you want to stay like that all summer!" Immediately the four boys ran toward Slughorn.

Lily giggled. "It was fun while it lasted. At least they'll leave us alone and we have a whole summer free of them!"

"Somehow, I think they're going to find us," Maggie said.

"Don't say that."

"Diagon Alley isn't that small. I kind of agree with Maggie." Rei piped up.

Lily laughed. "Well, I can hope. Oh, I talked to my parents and they said it was all right if you three spent a week at my house this summer! Petunia won't be happy, but Mom and Dad are dying to meet you all."

The other three girls grinned and all said they would come. "Hey, maybe we can do one week at Lily's, one week at mine, and then one at Hogwarts before everyone gets back," suggested Rei, looking thoughtful.

It would be fun to get to know everyone's families, Lily thought. "I'm in, but we should break it up a bit so we aren't gone from home the entire summer."

"Definitely," agreed Minerva. "Or we could even do two weeks per place, but divide it up over several summers, so our parents' heads don't explode."

"I could ask my parents if two weeks is all right. I'm sure they won't mind. That way we can do the first summer at my place."

Maggie smiled. "Sounds good to me." Minerva nodded in agreement. Lily smiled. Hogwarts had really become home. She missed her family, but it seemed she was adding to it with the girls. Having them over for at least some of the summer would make the separation from Hogwarts easier.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches: The Sisterhood's Third Year**

**Chapter 11: Welcome Home!**

**Lily**

Lily Evans kissed her parents good-bye and ran through the brick wall in between Platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station. This would be her third year running into Platform 9 and ¾. She saw the Hogwarts Express waiting for students to come up and grinned. After hauling her heavy trunk up, Lily went straight to the back compartment. She opened the door and a flash of fiery red hair attacked her. The girl attached to the red hair was named Rei Scorch and she was one of Lily's best friends. "LILY!" screeched Rei. "I know it's only been a month, but it seems so much longer!"

"I know!" laughed Lily. She saw a flash of silver and looked down to see a brooch with a swirling white orb in the middle of a Celtic knot fixed to Rei's cloak. A pretty brunette with blue eyes, also wearing a brooch, got up and hugged Lily.

Maggie Mirranoy smiled, her new tan making her teeth look even whiter than usual . "Minerva told me to tell you both that she's sorry she's not on the train. She and Bruce stayed up at the castle with Isobel. I was visiting John's mum in America with him." Maggie and John Flitwick had been going steady for the past two years.

Rei gasped. "Omigawd! I totally forgot about that! How did it go?"

Lily sat down listening to Maggie tell Rei about the ranch John's mother lived on and the horses she bred. It sounded like Maggie had a good holiday for the week that they didn't talk. During the first month of the summer break, Minerva, Maggie and Lily had stayed at Rei's house for two weeks. The four girls alternated houses every summer. This had been the third summer in a row. Next summer, they would stay at Hogwarts the month before classes began with Minerva, Maggie and Minerva's mother. Two years ago, Minerva's mother, Isobel McGonagall, adopted Maggie after Maggie's mother had died.

Maggie finished telling her story about half an hour later. "So, Lily, how was Petunia when you came back from Rei's?"

Lily snorted. "She asked if we stayed in a mental ward. I told her to shove it. But you know, I didn't see much of her when I was home. Apparently she has a new boyfriend."

"Seriously?" Rei's jaw dropped. "But she's so, so, boring. And nosy. And bony and mean!"

Maggie giggled. "Bony?"

"Yeah! Like anorexic looking. It's not healthy. We're healthy. We look like women. Not prepubescent boys." Rei folded her arms. She hadn't been fond of Petunia since they met two years ago. Petunia had said Rei's head looked like it was on fire and she should dye it a "normal color" in order to "fit in better". Rei replied with something along the lines of Petunia needing to eat more hay in order to stay cheery.

Lily grinned. Rei did have a point though. She and Rei had filled out a bit during the summer. Maggie looked like she had too, in addition to growing a couple inches taller. They were beginning to look more like women and less like kids. Rei seemed to read Lily's mind because she added, "It doesn't mean we have to act like grown women though!"

"I don't expect us to ever act like grown ups with you around."

"Lily, it is never too late to have a happy childhood," Rei said.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Where's Severus, Lily? I haven't seen him following you around like a puppy all summer and it's kind of throwing me off."

Lily chose to ignore the puppy comment. "I didn't see him when I was getting on the train. I talked to him yesterday though and I think he said he was going to be sitting with some Slytherin boys he met last year."

"Loosing him to the dark side," Rei muttered.

Maggie tapped her fingers against the armrest. "It does seem like he's the only semi-normal one in his group."

"Let's just hope they don't rub off too much on him," sighed Lily. She'd been worried about Severus. They weren't as close as they used to be. The boys he was hanging around with in Slytherin seemed to be very into the Dark Arts, not defending against them, just using them.

"On the bright side he has you to be a good influence," grinned Rei.

"Very true!" Maggie said. She stood up. "I don't know about you girls, but I need some chocolate!" Maggie made a food cart run and came back with all kinds of goodies.

Lily sighed in contentment, eating a chocolate bar. "Chocolate just makes everything better." She paused. "You know, I think that part of the reason why he's hanging around with such jerks is so that he has someone to talk to about Potter. He never seems to leave Sev alone, but Sev talks about how much he hates Potter all the time. It's like he's getting obsessed. Potter doesn't help matters though." And to her delight she hadn't seen that annoying James Potter yet. She entertained herself with thinking that perhaps he missed the train.

**Maggie**

Hours later, Maggie got onto a horseless carriage with Lily and Rei. They were joined by Severus Snape. Lily gave him a hug while Maggie and Rei just smiled and waved. Severus had never been outright rude to them, but Maggie had the feeling he only put up with herself, Rei and Minerva for Lily's sake. As she sat down, Maggie was extremely glad she didn't have to haul her trunk all the way up to the castle. Over the summer, she and Minerva had taken guitar lessons, so her trunk was heavier than usual. On the upside, Isobel had enchanted both girls' trunks be attached to their dormitory in Hogwarts, so they could just pull out whatever they needed. Maggie, Lily, Rei and Severus laughed and joked all the way up to the castle. The four of them walked to the Great Hall. Maggie waved at John, seeing him already sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

A few minutes later, Maggie, Lily and Rei almost fell over as Minerva McGongall tried to pull all three of them into a hug. Maggie laughed. "It's only been two weeks for us, Min!"

"I know, but still," insisted Minerva. "I think I'm becoming unusually attached to the three of you," she said seriously.

Rei grinned. "A little codependent, perhaps? It's totally okay because I am too."

Maggie sat down at the Gryffindor table. It was so good to be home! She, Minerva, Rei and Lily had been using their brooches to communicate all summer when they weren't together but it just wasn't the same as being in person. A moment later, Maggie was almost knocked out of her chair by Sirius Black and James Potter. "Mags!" Shouted Sirius. "How was your summer?"

"Ow. Good. Thanks. You can stop hugging me now."

James pouted. "I thought we were friends."

Maggie looked at the boys warily. In her second year, she, Minerva, Lily and Rei had used a gender-bender potion and turned Sirius, James, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew into girls. The boys had been unusually nice to them after that. Maggie thought it was just because they were planning a huge revenge plot, but it had been a year and nothing happened. "We'll see."

"No trust," sighed Sirius.

Rei grinned. "We trust Remus!"

James and Sirius exchanged a look. "Why Remus and not us?" they said together.

"Seriously?" asked Lily and Maggie together.

Remus Lupin appeared behind James and Sirius. "What about Remus?"

"Apparently all the girls just love you and James, Peter and I are rubbish," Sirius said.

"No, Remus is just the only one we are able to toler-" Maggie was cut off mid-sentence as Rei screamed, "REMUS!" and jumped over to engulf him in a hug. "Well, maybe Rei does," Maggie finished. Remus was blushing when Rei pulled away. Rei appeared not to notice as she talked to Remus animatedly about his summer. Maggie tried not to grin. Rei had a crush on Remus since the first time she saw him two years ago. Remus was the only person in Hogwarts that didn't know.

A tall boy came and sat down next to Minerva. Sean Sommers had grown a few inches over the summer. He now almost rivaled the height of his best friend, John Flitwick, who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table. The two boys looked like exact opposites. John had black hair while Sean had a sandy blonde. Sean's eyes were turquoise while John's resembled the night sky. Minerva smiled at Sean and he gave her a hug, asking about her summer. A few moments later, Minerva's brother Bruce, came and sat down next to Maggie. Bruce had been hanging around with his sister and her friends more and more over the past two years. He was now a sixth year, but always made sure he had time for his sister Minerva, and his adopted sister Maggie. The three wound up having a lot of the same friends as a result. Bruce was now even seen hanging around with Sean and John, though Maggie had a suspicion it was just to make sure that his little sisters were safe around the two older boys.

The entire hall quieted down as Professor McGonagall led the first years inside to be Sorted. "No one we know," muttered Rei. Most people had siblings the past few years, but this seemed like a completely fresh group. Eventually, Dumbledore got up to make his usual speech, ending with, "Agricola est bona!" and clapping before the food appeared.

**Rei**

Rei Scorch sighed happily. She was eating an amazing meal with her three best friends, and a few others. She was finally home! She loved her parents, she really did, but being away at school gave Rei a sense of independence she couldn't get by living under her parents' watchful eyes. She spent most of the summer with her mother's family. Unknown to everyone except immediate family and the girls, of course, Rei's mother was a fire fairy. Due to prejudices in the magical world, Rei didn't spread her heritage around. She wasn't ashamed, but her mother had warned her that many people would not be accepting. Rei's parents were Aurors. Her mother found out last year that a new dark wizard on the rise, Voldemort, was trying to get magical creatures on his side, via telling them that in his new world order, they would have more rights. In reality, he only wanted creatures like werewolves, giants and fairies for the additional power they could offer him. Rei had noticed over the summer, her mother throwing out more and more warnings about telling people about her heritage. However, her mother had caught her using her brooch over the summer, in her grandmother's forest palace, talking to Maggie and the jig was up. She finally admitted that she had told the other three girls. Her mom had been upset, but said she trusted Rei's judgment.

Everyone, full and sleepy now, finally started ambulating toward their common rooms. Rei grinned seeing John Flitwick come over to walk Maggie to Gryffindor tower. He had a new prefect badge shining on his robes. Rei had forgotten that fifth years got chosen for that. She glanced over at Sean and saw he had one on as well. Rei elbowed Minerva. "Ow!" she said, glaring.

Rei grinned. "Do you think Bruce will be head boy next year?"

"He got enough O.W.L.s I think," yawned Minerva. "He's never had detention or anything, so I don't see why not. He may not want to though. He doesn't like people thinking that he gets special treatment because of Mum."

"That makes sense. I bet you're a prefect next year."

"Maybe, but I don't know if I'd have time. I'll have to be studying for my O.!" groaned Minerva.

Maggie piped up, "You'll get an O on everything and you know it."

John smirked. "Plus, Sean and I can give you the inside scoop after this year!"

Sean grimaced. "Don't remind me!"

"What are O.W.L's?" asked Lily.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," replied Rei. "We have to take them fifth year. It's no big deal." As far as Rei was concerned, a test was a test.

Minerva's jaw dropped. "No big deal! They determine classes we can take for our N.E.W.T.s! Our future careers! Everything!"

Lily began to get what Rei referred to as a "Minerva glint" in her eye so Rei said, "Minerva, calm down. You are incredibly smart, so just study and you'll kick ass. Lily, we have two years to prepare. You will be fine."

The girls entered the common room. Sean immediately went to bed, but the four girls stayed and chatted by the fire. "Hey, Min, is Sean dating anyone?" asked Rei.

"No," replied Minerva. "He wants to focus on school, he says."

"Hehe!" Rei grinned. Sean hadn't dated anyone since he'd been at Hogwarts, which was unusual for a boy in his fifth year. Rei knew that Minerva and Sean liked each other, but Sean was waiting for a hint from Minerva. Minerva seemed to think that she didn't have time for anything other than friends and school. Rei wished she would let loose just a little and let herself enjoy her adolescence.

Minerva looked thoughtful. "You asked me that last year too. Are you interested in Sean?"

Rei's jaw dropped. Lily and Maggie burst out laughing. Rei put her head in her hands. "You are so clueless, Minerva!"

"It's a valid question. I can find out if Sean is interested in you too," Minerva said.

"Merlin, no!" exclaimed Rei. Maggie and Lily were too overcome with giggles to say anything. "I was asking for you!"

"Oh, Sean and I are just friends," Minerva waved a hand in the air. "Anyway, I'm off to bed. See you girls in the morning!" Minerva bounded upstairs.

**Minerva**

Minerva pulled on her pajamas, green flannel pants and a white t-shirt. She turned hearing Maggie come up. "What was so funny downstairs?"

Maggie smiled at Minerva. "Min, it was hilarious because Rei is so into Remus. It seemed like you were trying to take the focus off yourself because have feelings that you don't want to admit."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Don't be silly."

Maggie sighed. "I love you and we'll talk about it when you're ready."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Good night." She pulled the curtains around her four poster and stared up. Why did everyone seem to think that she liked Sean as more than a friend? Couldn't girls just be friends with boys? 'Besides,' Minerva thought, 'I'm not even fourteen yet. Why do I need a boyfriend?'. She heard the dormitory door open and Selene Crimsonhold, their roommate, say hi to Maggie. Minerva yawned. She'd talk to Selene in the morning. Sleep was way too tempting right now.

The next morning, Minerva was up early as usual. She dressed in her school uniform and made her way down to the common room. Just as she sat down, Maggie came inside. "Where have you been?" asked Minerva as she opened her Transfiguration book.

"I went on a run." Maggie flopped down in a chair. She pulled off a pair of running shoes. "I won't sit too close to you. Don't want to sweat on your book." She had confided in Minerva over the summer that she was planning on becoming an Auror, like her mother. Maggie had taken up running to get in shape. Minerva had wondered when she would have time during school. Once Maggie set her mind to something, she was very serious about it.

"You are more dedicated than I could be." Minerva didn't hate exercise, but she could never bring herself to get up as early as Maggie did. "Do you want me to wait on you to change before I go get breakfast?"

"Would you mind?" asked Maggie. Minerva shook her head no and motioned to her book. Maggie raced upstairs. The girl took notoriously short showers. She was out and dressed within ten minutes. Minerva never got that. She loved letting water run over her. It took off all the stress of the day. Maggie seemed to think it was a waste of time. The two walked down to the Great Hall together. Rei and Lily both seemed to like to sleep late, so over the past two years, Maggie and Minerva got used to meeting the others there about thirty minutes later.

The two girls walked down to the Hall. "I wonder what our schedules are going to be like this year?" Minerva said.

"Not sure. I wonder if Breaux is back this year?" Maggie said. "Your mom didn't say anything about her over the summer."

Minerva thought back. Breaux left at the end of her and Maggie's second year (Lily and Rei's first) to do some sort of special work for Dumbledore. Minerva and Maggie theorized that it had something to do with Voldemort. The girls had done some minor, and totally accidental, eavesdropping over the summer. Dumbledore was working to find Voldemort and take him down. "I hope so. I miss having her around."

They sat at the Gryffindor table, talking as other students slowly began to trickle inside and sit down. Selene came inside and sat down next to Maggie. "Just ran into your mom, Minerva. I got the schedules. First class, double Potions with the Slytherins."

"Wonderful Monday morning," muttered Maggie.

Selene smirked. "Well, at least we have each other for company."

"Does it say who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?"

"Bishop. I was hoping Breaux was back too." Selene passed the schedules to Maggie and Minerva.

Maggie and Minerva looked at their schedules. They had every class together except one. Minerva was taking Arithmacy and Maggie was taking Ancient Runes. Both girls opted against taking Divination. Minerva viewed it as a very imprecise branch of magic and couldn't see how it would work. Maggie on the other hand, said that she was going to live in the present and knowing her luck would find out exactly how and when she was going to die. "Bishop…that sounds familiar," Minerva said.

`"There's an Auror named Jeff Bishop." Maggie said. "My mom worked with him a few years ago."

"Wonder if that's him. I didn't see anyone new at the staff table," Minerva said. Her mother hadn't said anything about who the new professor would be.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Drama**

**Lily**

"This is silly!" Rei said under her breath to Lily. The two girls were in their first week of third year. Lily glanced at Rei, who was looking into her tea cup with disgust. Lily nodded.

"I agree, but we should at least pretend like we're doing the assignment." Lily opened her book and began to look up symbols. "I don't understand how anyone could take this seriously."

Professor Skylar, the Divination teacher, came over to stand in between the poufs Lily and Rei sat on. "And what have you two seen?"

"Nothing yet," the girls answered honestly.

Skylar picked up Rei's cup. Her mouth quirked in a half smile. She leaned down and whispered. "My girl, that boy you fancy. You will marry him and have twins." Lily shot Rei an amused smile. She straightened up. "There is a sun here, which I believe shows Miss Scorch's passionate, optimistic personality. Symbols in the tea leaves don't have to be complicated." She then switched to Lily's cup, still speaking. "Miss Evans, for example has," she peered down into the cup. Her eyes widened. She took a moment to recover before she said, "A quill." Bending down to place the cup on Lily's saucer, Skylar whispered, "My dear girl, stay away from a man with black hair." Lily didn't quite know what to make of this so she nodded and then turned to Rei. Skylar gave the girls a quick smile before bustling off to talk to other students.

"Okay, so I'm going to have twins and you have to stay away from men with black hair?" Rei said.

Lily watched Skylar for a minute. "Did you see her eyes widen? I wonder what she really saw in there. She almost looked afraid."

"Maybe she thinks you're going to be evil," shrugged Rei.

"Men with black hair! Honestly, I'd have to stay away from seventy percent of males."

Rei smirked. "Maybe you can use that as an excuse not to talk to James and Sirius." Lily laughed.

"I definitely could. Maybe I will." But that would mean staying away from Severus as well. Oh, choices, choices. Lily grinned to herself, surprised she was able to have a good time in this class. It just seemed incredibly unreliable. Rei had taken it in hopes that they would work on fire symbols, but that didn't come until 7th Year. Judging by how irritated both she and Rei were getting already, it didn't seem likely they would stick with the subject another four years.

Eventually the girls made it down to lunch. Maggie and Minerva were already talking animatedly about their Defense Against the Dark Arts class with former Auror Jeff Bishop. It was Wednesday so they had finally had the class. "Hi, girls!" Lily said, sitting down next to Maggie.

Maggie and Minerva stopped their conversation and greeted Lily and Rei. "What are we talking about?" asked Lily.

Maggie grinned. "Defense Against the Dark Arts with Bishop! It was so amazing!" Minerva was smiling and nodding in agreement.

"Wow, even Minerva liked it?"

"I never disliked the subject. I just was never as passionate about it as Maggie."

Lily grinned. "So he's that good, eh? Rei and I have him after lunch."

"You're going to love it," Maggie said.

The girls chatted a bit more while they ate. "So do you two want to hear about our worst class?" Rei asked.

"What would that be?" asked Minerva.

"Divination," Rei and Lily said in unison. They glanced at each other and laughed. Lily grinned. The more the four girls hung out, the more often saying the same thing at the same time happened.

"Rei is going to marry the boy she fancies and have twins. My prediction was less fun. I apparently have to stay away from men with black hair." Lily shrugged and sipped on her pumpkin juice.

"Guess you can't go to Defense class," smirked Maggie. Jeff Bishop was tall with black hair and a nose that appeared to have been broken once or twice.

Lily snorted. "I could do better in Divination if I had a Magic 8-Ball."

"What's that?" asked Minerva and Rei curiously.

Maggie grinned while Lily replied. "It's a Muggle toy. You ask a question, shake the ball and an answer comes up in the ball. I'll ask my mom to mail me one if you want."

"Weird!" exclaimed Rei.

"What's weird?" asked Sirius Black, sitting down.

"You have to get up, right now." Lily stated, looking serious.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I haven't even said hi today! How could I have offended you already?"

"I…I…Professor Skylar told me to stay away from boys with black hair!" Lily flung her hands over her face.

"What?" demanded Sirius. The other girls tried very hard to maintain straight faces.

"It's detrimental to my life to be around you right now!" Lily exclaimed on the verge of hysterics. "She said I have to stay away from boys with black hair! Go before you cause my death! Go, GO!" Sirius, looking bewildered, stood and moved to the other side of the table.

Minerva grinned. "Top marks on your acting skills!" Lily grinned. Sometimes, having friends like Rei Scorch rub off on you was a good thing.

**Maggie**

The next morning, Maggie was up early as usual for her morning run. She passed Hagrid's hut just as he was heading out to the forest. The two waved at each other. Toward the lake, Maggie saw a figure above her head. The shadow descended and a bat flew in front of her face. "Gertrude!" grinned Maggie.

Gertrude the bat was Maggie's adopted pet from her second year. She seemed to think she was an owl and frequently brought Maggie mail. Gertrude perched on Maggie's shoulder until the girl was done with her run. Maggie sat on the lake's edge to cool down. It was then that she noticed Gertrude was carrying a letter for her. Curiously, she opened it. Her jaw promptly dropped as she read. "There's no way in bloody…How freaking mental!" Gertrude, startled by the yell, twitched a bit. Maggie absently patted the bat before she stomped up to the castle.

"Morning, Maggie!" exclaimed Sean Sommers on his way to the Great Hall.

Maggie glared. "Is it? Is it really?"

"Um, seeing as the sun has been up for about four hours, I'm going with yes."

"Bully for you!" Maggie snapped as she stormed into the Gryffindor common room.

Sean blinked. "Guess John's going to have a super fun day," he muttered.

Maggie showered, slamming all the doors, and cursing when she slipped on a bar of soap. She stopped back inside her dormitory to see that Minerva and Selene were already gone. She huffed and sat down on her bed, taking out the cause of her bad mood to look at it again. "Git," she muttered.

_Dearest Margaret, _

_It has come to my attention that your mother has passed. Due to this event, I can now contact you again. She saw fit to leave me and probably tell you all sorts of lies about me. Women can get silly like that sometimes. It is high time that you know what really happened. I am a Pure Blood and married your mother because she was such as well. She got, let's call it, shirty, with me when I informed her I had arranged your marriage to another Pure Blood when you were two years old. Your mother saw this as evidence of my "Pure Blood mania" and "mental unbalance". She left me and placed powerful enchantments so that I could not contact you, or her. I just recently discovered her demise, as I have been in Albania, working with some important wizards. I think it is time we take back our father-daughter relationship and get to know each other. I believe you already know your intended husband. He is about six months younger than you. He is of a status worthy of yours, don't worry! His name is Sirius Black. His parents were most pleased to learn that the match is still on! They were concerned that you were a Gryffindor, but I assured them it is only because you're a brave girl, not because you're a Muggle enthusiast. We've agreed to a meeting between the two families during your winter break. I will be picking you up right after the Hogwarts Express is back in London. Please send me a reply so that we can start to get to know each other again!_

_Sincerely, _

_Your father,_

_Sylvester Selwyn_

Maggie took a few calming breaths before she stuck the letter in her pocket. She made her way down to the Great Hall, being uncharacteristically quiet. A few seats down from her, Sirius Black was also very quiet. "Psst, Maggie," said Rei, waving a hand in front of her face. "What's wrong?"

Maggie shook her head. "The four of us can talk about it later, ok? I can't think about it before classes." However, it was all Maggie thought about before and during classes. Who the hell did Sylvester Selwyn think he was? Some father! A blood obsessed freak, who wanted his daughter to have a fiancée when she was two years old? No wonder her mother left! The man was insane! Maggie was angrily doodling sketches a wand exploding in a man's face when Minerva nudged her quite hard in the ribs. "Maggie? Stay after class, please," Jeff Bishop said in a quiet voice.

Maggie went bright red. She couldn't even concentrate in her favorite class! How dare he get under her skin like this! After class, Minerva cast her friend a worried look. Maggie waved her off. "Is something wrong?" asked Bishop when Maggie approached the desk.

"I, just. Nothing." Maggie said.

Bishop looked at her. "You're a bright girl, Maggie. Whatever it is, you'll sort it out. If you need help, that is what I'm here for."

"Thanks," Maggie said, surprised. She walked out of class. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to anyone, but she didn't want to talk to someone that she hardly knew. Toward the middle of the day, Maggie was finally starting to feel better when she ran into John, who was looking worried and harassed. They both had free period right now and normally met in the library to study, however, John was waiting outside the room for her today.

"Walk with me?"

"Sure?" Maggie said. 'Great, more weirdness today,' she thought.

The two went outside, to the courtyard. John sat on the bench where Maggie and the girls usually hung out. "Listen, with OWLs coming up, I really don't have time to think about anything else. I'm so swamped with that and prefect duties. I don't have the time to be the boyfriend you need. I think we should take a break. Just until the year is up."

Maggie felt all emotion stop. It was an interesting feeling, this void. "Fine." she said in a voice that clearly stated things were not fine. "Fine, John. Have fun with your parchment and books and your weird fear of daisies!" She turned on her heel and walked back inside. She didn't see John put his head in his hands and his shoulders heave.

_**Minerva**_

Minerva sat in the Gryffindor common room during her free period, going over the Transfiguration lesson for the next day. She was surprised when Maggie walked in. "Trouble in the library?" she asked, knowing her friend almost always spent this period with John.

"Um, kind of. We, well, he broke up with me."

Minerva's jaw dropped. "What?" John was so in love with Maggie! He had been since they met!

"Said he 'needs a break'. Study for OWLs or something." Maggie shrugged. "I know this sounds cold, but with everything else that happened today, the John thing just doesn't seem important. I'm sure it'll hit me tomorrow and I'll be bawling in bed with bonbons, but for now, it's not huge." Maggie flung herself into the floor in front of Minerva's chair and laid on her back. "What's new with you? I'm tired of all this mental crap happening to me."

Minerva closed her book. "I'm tired of it happening to you, too! And I don't even know what happened this morning!"

"I promise, I'll tell you when all the girls are together. I only want to say it once."

Minerva nodded. That was understandable. "Nothing's new with me. Mom is thinking about taking us and Bruce to America for part of the summer holidays. I think she mentioned Florida for the beaches."

"Mmm. Oceans."

Minerva grinned. "Yes, it will be our great escape before we have a horrible fifth year."

"Why horrible?"

"OWLs, harder classes." Minerva said simply. Maggie quirked an eyebrow. "Not that OWLs are an excuse to stop seeing people you like or anything. That's just stupid." Minerva and Maggie talked up until their next class, Care of Magical Creatures. They were studying unicorns which seemed to cheer Maggie up immensely. Minerva was in an even better mood, and she hadn't been in a bad one to start with.

The two girls were packing up their things when Professor Dumbledore came to talk to Professor Ethelson. Minerva overheard, "Yes, just to be safe." and "Increasing security around the school". She and Maggie exchanged a look. Over the summer, more deaths and Muggle tortures had occurred. The summer before, Voldemort had been quiet. This summer, it seemed he was more intent to rise to power. No one seemed safe. Minerva felt bad about eavesdropping every chance she got, but they had to find out things somehow. Her mother always said she and Bruce were too young to be in the loop, but Minerva thought different. They had to be prepared. In three years, Minerva would be of age. She would be able to decide then, her mother said. Isobel didn't know it, but her daughter's mind had been made up the day she found out Maggie's mother was killed. Minerva was going to fight Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters any way that she could. He killed innocent people. He stood for "blood purity" and other insane ideas. Some things were worth fighting for, and a better world was one of them.

Minerva sighed once she and Maggie were on their way to Herbology. "Do you think this will ever be over?"

"The walk or what we just overheard?" Maggie glanced over her shoulder. Dumbledore and Ethelson were far behind them. "I think it's just started. I have a feeling we won't be able to stay kids much longer. Maybe your mom is right to try and keep us out of this for as long as she can. We're in such a rush to do what's right, but what can we do while we're still in school?"

"Aren't I supposed to be the logical one?"

"You are, I'm just saying what you already know is true."

Minerva's lips turned up in a smile. Out of all the girls, Maggie still knew her the best. Minerva told Maggie to go ahead and she would inform Lily and Rei. She knew that Lily and Rei would want to know that whispers of You-Know-Who had been heard.

Minerva rubbed the brooch she always wore and Rei's face appeared in front of her, Lily appeared to be standing over Rei's shoulder. "Rei, we have to have a girls' meet after dinner tonight. In addition to Maggie's news, she and I just heard something about You-Know-Who."

"Ten-Four," Rei replied. She and Lily had their free period now. The girls had worked out all the kinks for using their brooches. They had memorized each others' schedules so that they wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding out their secret.

After a fairly uneventful class, Maggie and Minerva went back to the common room to drop off their books and bags. When Minerva saw Sean and John down the hall, she quickly engaged Maggie in conversation and started telling her an embarrassing story about Bruce. John looked over hearing Maggie's snort of laughter and Minerva made sure to shoot him a glare. Even if Maggie said she wasn't upset, Minerva knew that she was. John didn't deserve to see her down. Minerva wasn't a particularly vengeful girl, but when a friend was on the line, things were different. As the girls were climbing into the portrait hall, Minerva heard a shout coming from Sean. 'I wonder what's wrong with Sean ,' she thought. 'Guess I'll find out later.' She figured Maggie's need was greater than Sean's.

_**Rei**_

It was dinner time and Rei Scorch was, as she so often was, on a mission. The object her despise sat at the Ravenclaw table. Rei grabbed John Flitwick by the back of his robes, not caring that he was six inches taller than her, at least thirty pounds heavier, and significantly more skilled in magic. All that Rei cared about was that this fifteen year old wanker had broken up with her best friend today, when something was _clearly_ already wrong with Maggie. "Ok, Flitwick," Rei said, shoving him into a suit of armor, "I don't know what your deal is. I also do not care. For a Ravenclaw you sure are stupid." Her voice was deadly calm. "Maggie is absolutely amazing, you git. And you just toss her aside like a doll?" Rei poked him hard in the chest. "Biggest mistake you will ever make!" She poked him in the chest one more time for good measure before she waltzed back into the hall and took her seat next to Minerva.

"What did you just do?" asked Minerva.

Rei shrugged. "Made a speech. Poked. Shoved into suit of armor. Not in that order."

Minerva sighed. "Maggie told us to be nice."

"And you really think she expects us to listen?"

"Well, she expects me and Minerva to," Lily piped up.

"And she knows me better than that!" exclaimed Rei, folding her arms.

Minerva sighed. "I'm sure she didn't expect you to give him a black eye."

"Actually that was me." Sean sat with the girls today. He was also mad at John, though he refused to give the girls any information that John told him about the break up.

Bruce McGonagall sat down. "Well, someone needed to!"

Rei grinned. "See? The boys are on my side!" Minerva and Lily rolled their eyes.

"About what?" asked Maggie, sitting down next to Lily.

"Um, the fact that wendigos exist." Maggie raised and eyebrow but didn't say anything else.

Rei scanned the hall. She hadn't seen James, Remus, Peter or Sirius for the better part of the day and knew that they were up to something. Probably pulling a prank on Severus. An owl flew down and dropped off a package for Lily. She passed it to Rei, who opened it and found… "Weird!" exclaimed Rei, thirty seconds later. "Ask it a question!"

"Will Minerva ever let her hair down and have a good time?" asked Bruce, earning himself a glare from his sister.

"Magic 8-Ball says, 'Ask again later'. This is so cool!" Rei exclaimed.

Maggie and Lily laughed. It never took much to amuse Rei. After dinner, the four girls snuck off to go talk around the lake. "Okay, Mags, other than Operation: Kill Raven, what do we have going on?" Rei demanded.

"Kill Raven?" asked Lily, trying not to laugh.

"Okay, the Raven is John. Kill may be a strong term. Maim, hurt, humiliate?"

Maggie gave Rei a half smile. "We can put John on the back burner. My main issue is this," Maggie held out the letter she received from her father that morning. Minerva read it aloud, her face a mask of repulsion.

Lily stood up. "Are you kidding me? This kind of thing actually happens?"

"Not often," Minerva and Maggie said together.

"Well, just don't meet him at the train! Did you send him a letter back telling him to bugger off?" Lily demanded inflamed.

"Believe me, I did." Maggie said. "Minerva, I want to talk to your mom as well. She's my legal guardian now. He shouldn't have any hold over me, right?"

Minerva nodded. "That sounds right. I mean, unless he chooses to fight for custody, in which case I'm pretty sure Mum would fight him tooth and nail. Plus, we have Dumbledore to vouch for us." Minerva stood up as well. "Let's go talk to her now. You girls come too," she said to Rei and Lily.

Rei walked beside Maggie and held her hand on the way back up to the castle. "This may be entirely inappropriate, but I'm really glad that you girls are all so good in a crisis. Maggie, if I'd been in your situation, I would just cry all day."

Lily snorted. "You would not. You'd raise hell."

Maggie grinned. "Agreed. But thanks to all three of you."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter Thirteen: Ideas**_

_**Lily**_

A few days later, Lily awoke very refreshed. The four girls had a great conversation with Minerva's mother about what they were going to do concerning Maggie's father. Isobel McGonagall's part went something along the lines of, "What? I'm going to the Ministry right now! He's been under a restraining order for a reason! There's no way he's going to take you away from me!" Now that things were going to be okay with Maggie, Lily could focus on classes again., plus, scheduling fun activities to keep Maggie's mind off John. Lily had one idea she knew that Maggie would absolutely love. In other news, she really needed to talk to Severus. It appeared he almost died and James Potter had somehow saved him from whatever lurked underneath the Whomping Willow.

"Morning!" exclaimed Mary McDonald brightly, she was already dressed. A boy from Slytherin had been giving Mary some trouble so lately, Lily and Rei walked her from the dormitory to the Great Hall. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and a few Hufflepuffs in their year paid particular attention to go places in groups now, even inter-house groups. Lily dressed and then she, Mary and Rei went down to the Great Hall. They were very surprised to see Maggie talking to an apparently distraught Sirius Black outside the hall.

"This is mental! I mean, you're very pretty but I'm only thirteen years old! Who wants to bloody think about a wife at thirteen?" Sirius's voice was unusually high.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Agreed, idiot. That's why I told Isobel, I mean, Professor McGongall about it. She's going to a custody hearing and absolving the entire thing this weekend. We don't have to worry about it and you can stop being weird around me now."

"Or your parents could set you up with someone completely horrible, Sirius," Rei chimed in. "I mean, Maggie could be the lesser of all the evils."

Lily tried not to grin. Only Rei would think of it from that angle. Sirius's face paled. "Merlin! She's right." He looked at Maggie at thoughtfully. "You know, you aren't together with John anymore…"

Maggie's jaw dropped and she looked like she was trying very hard to restrain herself from beating her head on the wall. Lily stifled a snort and then took Maggie's elbow, leading her into the Great Hall. "What, was he serious?" laughed Lily.

"I know, right. That's almost as absurd as you suddenly declaring your undying love for James Potter." Maggie grinned, earning an elbow from Lily. "Did we loose Rei and Mary?"

Lily scanned the hall, noting that John Flitwick was watching Maggie out of the corner of his eye. She looked around for Mary and spotted her at the Hufflepuff table. "Mary's with some other girls in our year. She's fine. I guess Rei's still outside with Sirius. I'm amazed that she gets along with absolutely everyone."

"I'm not anymore." Maggie shrugged. They sat down by Minerva, who had her head buried in her Transfiguration book.

Once Minerva decided to be social, Lily said, "I heard you two practicing your guitars this morning."

"Oh, no!" Minerva looked horrified. "Were we that loud? Was it horrible?"

Lily laughed. "Not at all! It was actually quite good. It gave me a bit of an idea. I play piano and keyboards. Rei is a natural drummer."

Maggie grinned. "So you're thinking…?"

"Well," Lily glanced at Maggie, "I think as an extracurricular, it would be beneficial. It would take the edge off after a hard day of schooling. It would be a very productive way to unwind. We could even limit it to weekends. As far as lyrics go, Maggie, I know you write poetry a lot. It's almost the same isn't it? I write a bit myself, but between the four of us I'm sure we can come up with at least a few really brilliant ideas."

"Well, hell. You know I'm in!" exclaimed Rei, appearing from seemingly no where.

Maggie glanced slyly at Minerva. "We do have the Room to practice in. No one could happen in on us."

Minerva glanced around at her friends. "It would be a nice thing to do on the weekends, but we can't tell anyone! Especially not until we get really good."

"Brilliant!" grinned Lily. She checked the time. "I told Severus I'd meet him before Potions, so I will see you girls at lunch!" Lily raced off to meet her other good friend. She and Severus always made time for each other, usually at least three times a week. However, she hadn't seen him in almost two weeks. She stopped short when she saw him talking to two Slytherin boys, Avery and Mulciber, the reason why Lily hadn't seen Severus. Snape quickly disengaged himself from the others and hurried toward Lily, but she was already walking away.

"Lily, come back! I thought we were supposed to be friends? Best friends?" He opened his mouth to continue, but Lily interrupted.

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber. Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary McDonald the other day?" Mary was Lily and Rei's other roommate. She was a sweet girl and Mulciber had tried to viciously attack her. Luckily, Professor Flitwick had deflected it. Lily reached a pillar and leaned against it.

"That was nothing," said Severus. "It was a laugh, that's all -"

"It was Dark Magic and if you think that's funny -"

"What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" demanded Severus. Color rose in his cheeks.

"What's Potter got to do with anything?"

"They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"

Lily blinked. She and Rei had asked and Remus always insisted he was just ill and in the hospital wing. "He's ill. They say he's ill."

"Every month at the full moon?"

"I know your theory." Lily's tone was icier than it ever was with Severus. He was convinced Remus Lupin was a werewolf. In Lily's opinion, if Remus was a werewolf and wanted his friends to know, he would tell them. Until then, it was no one's business but his. Kind of like how Rei didn't tell the girls she was part fire fairy until she was ready. "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they they're doing at night?"

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."

"They don't use Dark Magic though." Lily lowered her voice. "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there -"

"Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to - I won't let you -"

"Let me? Let me?"

"I didn't mean - I just don't want to see you made a fool of - He fancies you, James Potter fancies you! And he's not…everyone thinks…big Quidditch hero -"

Lily fought very hard not to roll her eyes. James had been on the team for one match and, yeah, Gryffindor won. That was also partly due to some spectacular saves by Maggie, Rei, Trey Reyett, and the rest of the team. The way Potter told it, though, it was all him. "I know that James Potter's an arrogant toerag. I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them." Lily sighed as Severus relaxed. "Why do you think you and I haven't been seeing each other as much? I can't stand them, Sev. I can't."

**Maggie**

Maggie raced out of Ancient Runes that Friday. It was officially the Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches first band practice that afternoon, plus a Quidditch game Saturday morning! What a great weekend! She dropped off her bag in her dormitory, only to run into Sirius on the way out of the portrait hole. "Listen, Mags, I've been thinking," Sirius started.

"Sirius, I'm meeting the girls." Maggie said looking up at him. She vaguely wondered when Sirius got taller than her. Maggie moved past him, guitar case in hand.

Sirius grinned as he followed Maggie out of the portrait hole. A passing group of second year girls blushed and giggled upon seeing Sirius, but he appeared not to notice. "See, that's another reason why we would work out. We both have our own set of friends and are independent. Most girls my age want to be a ball and chain and take me away from the boys, but you wouldn't."

"Uh, thanks, I think?" Maggie replied. She stopped at the end of a corridor, not wanting Sirius to see where she and the girls were going to practice, or what they were going to be doing.

"Come to Hogsmeade with me the next weekend we go. It's Halloween. It'll be fun. I promise, I will not be offended if you have the girls on standby for backup. If you don't have a good time, you can just get up and leave." When Maggie sighed, Sirius added, "You won't get a better deal from anyone else."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "If I don't have a good time, I can leave and I won't hear another word about it, ever?"

"Never ever," Sirius agreed.

"Deal, Black. See you later."

After making sure Sirius didn't turn around again, Maggie hurried off to the Room of Requirement. "I thought you were the one that's OCD about being on time?" Rei demanded. She was sitting behind an impressive drum set, while Minerva and Lily were fiddling with their instruments.

"Sorry. I got detained by a certain species called Sirius Black."

"Is he still panicking?" asked Lily.

Maggie took out her guitar and set it on the floor next to her. "Not quite. He asked me to Hogsmeade on Halloween."

"And you said…?" asked Rei slyly.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I said yes, but only to get him to leave me alone."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "What? Was he following you here?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Maggie.

Rei and Lily giggled. Lily said, "Well, now we know what to tell the next boy that wants to take you out. Stalk her and she'll give in!" Minerva laughed.

"Well, anything sounds bad when you say it like that," muttered Maggie, causing her friends to laugh even harder. The girls got down to business after everyone calmed down. Maggie pulled out a few poems she thought could easily be converted into lyrics. Minerva and Rei were the two that decided what type of music to set the words too. Eventually, Maggie and Lily were voted to be the permanent lyric writers, while Minerva and Rei did the music. By the time they finished for the night, it was incredibly late and everyone was exceptionally hyper off Butterbeer.

"Girls," Rei said, raising her bottle. "To us and the awesome Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches!"

"Here, here!" exclaimed Minerva, Maggie and Lily, also raising their bottles.

"Hey!" exclaimed Lily suddenly. "Maggie! Halloween is mine and Rei's first Hogsmeade visit!"

Maggie laughed. "Sirius said I could leave if I wasn't having a good time and never hear another word about it. I don't plan on spending the entire day with him anyway."

"Oh, well, that's okay then." Lily grinned.

"Oh! Oh! But guess what? That night, Rosemerta is throwing a Halloween costume party at the Three Broomsticks. We should go!" Rei exclaimed, almost spilling her Butterbeer.

"Oh! Yeah!" Maggie exclaimed. She saw Minerva looking unsure, "Look, we'll tell your mom that we're going. She knows Rosemerta and trusts her."

"Ok, ok, I'm in."

"Yes!" yelled Rei, hugging Minerva. "Adventure! Costumes!"

Maggie grinned. "What should we all be?"

"I'm going to be a fairy, duh," said Rei, causing everyone to laugh. "Seriously! It'll be really easy and totally believable that I just did a charm to make my wings. Or that I had Minerva transfigure me some wings."

"I'm not that good!"

"No one will doubt that you are!" grinned Maggie. "I have this red dress of my mom's that I could use to be a demon, or devil or something."

"You scandalous temptress!" laughed Rei.

Lily stretched out on the floor, a pillow appearing under her. "I want to live in this room!" She smiled. "I think I'll be a vampire. That'll be easy."

"And what shall I be?" mused Minerva.

"A princess." Rei suggested.

"I don't want to be a stupid damsel in distress."

"Hey!" exclaimed Maggie. "You can be that one princess…remember that story we read a few summers ago?"

"Not even a little. It's very late."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "It was in a really old book of feminist witch fairy tales. I have it somewhere. Anyway, the story is about this princess whose kingdom gets taken over by her Dark Wizard uncle when her parents die. He steals her wand, so she can't fight back, but here's the kicker. She gets so bloody pissed off about he's mistreating the people in her kingdom that she manages to master wandless magic."

"Oh! Now I remember! Princess Regina Falangie!"

"Phalange?" exclaimed Lily and Rei before they collapsed into helpless giggles, soon followed by Minerva and Maggie.

_**Minerva**_

Minerva yawned. She was at that stage of being tired where everything was entirely too funny. The girls packed up and headed out, still trying not to giggle about Princess Regina. They were careful to avoid any lurking professors, and Peeves especially. He would be the one to get them in trouble for being out of bed. Once they all clambered through the portrait hole, Minerva was surprised to discover that they were not alone. Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter something-or-other, were huddled around the fire, all looking rather perturbed.

"Where's the fourth Musketeer?" Rei asked them cheerfully. All three boys jumped.

"Merlin, Scorch!" exclaimed James. "Shrill voice like yours could wake the entire castle."

"Why so rude, Potter?" demanded Minerva, her wonderful sugar high wearing off.

Rei grinned. "I'm sure ickle Jami-Wami is just fussy cause he's up past his beddy-bye time."

James scowled, he stormed up to the boys dormitory and Peter followed him. Sirius stretched and stood up. "Sorry, birds. We've just had a bit of a row."

"What? The dream team?" asked Lily.

"Aw, be nice, Evans."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not James?"

Minerva couldn't help it, she grinned. "He does have a point, Lily. He's not near as bad as James."

Lily took another swig of butterbeer. "Fine."

Sirius yawned and then looked at Rei. "In answer to your question, we don't know where Remus is. He just said he had to go, said it was urgent. James and Peter are upset because he wouldn't tell us."

"What girls," muttered Lily and Maggie.

"Yeah, might be having that time of the month. They've been getting moody once a month since that prank you four pulled on us first year."

Minerva's jaw dropped. "That is not possible!"

"Okay, so they have a manly time of the month and get moody for no reason. I stick to my suspicion." Sirius grinned. "Night!" He bounded upstairs.

"They are so weird," Minerva said, shaking her head. She was pretty sure Sirius was lying about why the other boys were in bad moods, but it was none of her business.

"Agreed," said Lily, Rei and Maggie in unison.

The next morning, Rei elbowed Minerva. "Hey, I was thinking, you know, Remus does seem to disappear a lot. They say he's ill, but if he's that sick, he should be in St. Mungo's."

Minerva shook her head and asked, "What's your point?"

"Well, what's he doing?"

"I don't know. Boy stuff! Does it really matter? Why don't you date someone else and make him jealous?" Minerva said, only half listening to herself. She was enthralled in her Transfiguration book. She was five chapters ahead already.

"That's an idea…" Rei glanced around the hall. "HEY, KID!" she yelled to a blonde Hufflepuff and promptly strode over to him.

Minerva looked up. "I think I may have just done something bad," she muttered. She shrugged. Rei would be Rei. She continued to read until Maggie and Lily and joined her at the Gryffindor table. Suddenly her book was ripped from her hands. "Hey!"

"Minerva, what did we talk about yesterday?" demanded Lily.

Maggie smirked. "You know, the part about being social? It's Saturday, Minerva! Stop reading! You're already six chapters ahead."

"Five," muttered Minerva. She sighed. "Why doesn't anyone understand how important school is? What's the big deal with being social anyway?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Why is Rei tormenting the Hufflepuffs?"

"Erm, I may have given her some ill advising," Minerva said sheepishly.

"It's going to be a long weekend isn't it?" sighed Maggie.

Minerva drank some pumpkin juice. "I'm sure it'll seem very short after the Quidditch match today."

"Aw, you remembered." Maggie grinned.

Minerva glared. "You know I like keeping up with Quidditch! I just don't have time to play."

"We'll need you next year!" exclaimed Rei in a sing song voice as she bounced into the seat next to Maggie. "I'm dating Rupert Wesson, now, by the way. Thanks for the idea, Minerva."

"Um…" Minerva shrugged when Lily and Maggie looked at her questioningly. "She was trying to talk to me while I was reading! I didn't know what I was saying!"

"Isn't he a fifth year?" asked Maggie.

Bruce McGonagall sat down, wearing his Quidditch robes. "Yes, he is a fifth year and total git. Why would you date him, Rei? He's a slut."

"That's fine. I'm just using him to make someone jealous. I'm pretty sure he'll cheat on me by the end of the Quidditch match today." Rei shrugged. "Don't worry, Bruce. I won't get hurt. Which is more than I can say for John." She twirled her Beater's bat like a menacing baton.

"We're not supposed to intentionally maim anyone, Rei," Sean Sommers said, sitting down, Beater's bat in hand.

"You take all the fun out of being a Beater, Sean."

Minerva smirked. "Not all of us are as destructive as you are, Rei." She grinned at Sean, whose color rose in his cheeks. He had started doing that lately every time Minerva paid him any type of compliment. Minerva looked away, wondering if the girls were right. Was Sean interested in her? More importantly, was she interested in Sean?

_**Rei**_

"It was an accident!" exclaimed Rei, hours later, in the Gryffindor locker room.

Maggie was red in the face. "You could have killed him!"

"He's fine!"

"Yeah, because Bruce caught him!"

"Well if he wasn't so busy watching you instead of the Bludgers, he wouldn't have this problem!" Rei yelled.

James Potter sighed. "Can't you two just be happy we won?"

"This does NOT concern you!" Maggie and Rei rounded on James. How dare he attempt to enter their fight, thought Rei.

"Should we help him?" asked Sean, eying the two girls and James warily.

"Erm, up to you two, mates," said Neil Ellison, Gryffindor Keeper. " Trey and I are going to the common room to celebrate."

"Escape while you can!" whispered Trey Reyett, Seeker, to the other boys.

Rei glanced over. "I can hear you boys talking. If you have something to say, please join."

"Okay, okay!" yelled Bruce, as Neil and Trey ran outside. "Rei, it looked like it was on purpose, BUT, Maggie, John really wasn't playing his best today. He was distracted and he was not looking at the Bludger. Besides, Madam Hooch didn't seem to think it was on purpose."

Maggie and Rei looked at each other. "Fine," they both said.

Bruce's jaw dropped. "Seriously? 'Fine'? That's it?"

"Well," Rei glanced at Maggie, "There's really no point in being upset with each other. We'll just make up in ten minutes anyway." Bruce made a noise of disbelief and left the locker room with Sean, muttering something about never understanding girls.

James cleared his throat. "Erm, Rei, I wanted to say that I'm sorry about being rude last night."

"You're rude all the time," Rei said.

"Okay, I'm sorry for being extra rude."

"It happens."

James nodded and sat down to change his shoes. Something was bothering him. 'Lily's going to hurt me for this,' Rei thought. She told Maggie to go ahead and she would catch up. "What's wrong, James?" Rei asked, sitting next to him.

"Remus, Peter and I are really peeved with Sirius. He, erm, well he played a really dangerous trick on Snivell- I mean, Snape, the other night."

"Involving the Whomping Willow," Rei prompted.

"Merlin. Does nothing stay secret in this castle?" asked James.

Rei smirked. "Nothing stays secret when I'm around."

James rolled his eyes. "Sirius is my best mate, but with the Whomping Willow, Snape could have died. Sirius doesn't seem to think he did anything wrong."

"Sirius is really reckless." Rei leaned back against the bench. "Why did he try to hurt Severus?"

"Snape's friend, Mulciber, he's the one that attacked Mary. Sirius found out that Snape is the one that gave Mulciber the hex."

"What?" exclaimed Rei. She knew that Severus was interested in Dark Magic, but to actually give someone a spell to use? That was taking it to a whole new level.

"Yeah…" James trailed off. "Damn, you are way too easy to talk to!" he exclaimed, realizing how much he had told her.

"It's a specialty of mine," grinned Rei. "Anyway, I'm sure you boys will work it out. You're too good of friends to let one incident ruin it all."

"Hah, like how you and Maggie can be screaming at each other one minute and then fine the next?"

"Exactly," grinned Rei. She bounded out of the locker room, not hearing James mutter, "Mental!"

Rei entered the common room to find a full blown party. It looked like someone had snuck into Hogsmeade and gotten Butterbeer and plenty of Honeydukes candy. She quickly found the girls and sat down in the corner with them.

"Great game today!" grinned Selene Crimsonhold, Maggie and Minerva's roommate. She was wearing a Gryffindor sweater.

"Thanks!" said Rei.

Lily handed Rei a Butterbeer. "Another Gryffindor victory!"

"Yep, once Minerva joins the team next year, we'll be unstoppable." Maggie opened a chocolate frog.

"And what makes you think I'm going to do that?"

"We're loosing Neil. You're a great Keeper. You don't want to see us lose. Do the math, Minnie."

Rei laughed. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she should tell Lily what she had just found out about Severus. Lily and Severus's friendship seemed to be under strain as it was, mostly because of Severus's new friends. Would Rei just be making it worse by telling? Then again, Lily was one of Rei's best friends and withholding information was wrong, right? Almost the same as lying. Everyone was having such a good time, though. 'I'll tell her later,' Rei decided.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14: Halloween**_

_**Lily**_

Several weeks later, Lily woke up too excited to sleep. It was Saturday, October 31st. Today, she and Rei would visit Hogsmeade for the first time (legally, anyway) and then later tonight, the Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches would go to a (semi rule breaking) party at the Three Broomsticks. The four girls had worked hard on their costumes the past weekend and Lily was quite impressed with them. She would be wearing a red dress, several shades darker than her hair, with a button up bodice and a flowing skirt. To top it off was a black cape, and a tooth elongating charm on her canines to make fangs. She had even found a potion, thanks to Sev, to make her porcelain skin even paler.

For the day, Lily dressed in flared jeans and black t-shirt. She bounded down to the Common Room to find Rei already up as well. Rei wore a dark green shirt that said, 'If the broom fits, ride it!" A witch zoomed around the bottom of it. Rei was also sporting her black witches' hat, decorated with silver stars and crescent moons. "Morning!" Lily said.

"You couldn't sleep either?" asked Rei.

"Not at all."

The portrait hole opened and Maggie walked in. She was wearing a knee length, handkerchief black skirt and an off the shoulder blue top. Her brooch shimmered around her neck; she had apparently attached it to a silver chain for the day. Maggie held a cup of steaming coffee in her hands. She managed to look a little guilty when she spotted Rei and Lily. "I wish I had known you two were up! I would have brought you something from the kitchens!" Minerva trailed in behind Maggie, wearing blue jeans, topped with a black peasant blouse. She was drinking something steaming hot also, but it didn't smell like coffee.

Minerva sat down, yawning. "Maggie always wakes me up so early on Halloween. It's like she thinks it's Christmas or something."

"Well, if you're going to act like that, I won't give you your Halloween present."

"We get presents?" asked Lily.

Maggie grinned. From her pocket she produced three little black velvet bags and handed them to each of the girls. Inside, they all found a silver chain matching the one Maggie was wearing. A little hoop in the center made the chain perfect for turning the brooches into pendants. Lily smiled. "Now we can wear them all the time!" She hugged Maggie and then took her own brooch out of her pocket and attached it to the chain.

"The chains are break proof. Even if someone were to slice through it with a knife or spell, it would just go right back together," Maggie said.

"Great, they're Rei-proof," winked Minerva, only to have a pillow thrown at her by Rei.

"Where'd you get the chains?"

"Actually, they were spare from the school. Hagrid was trying out some new locks to keep the Thestrals from eating extra treats, and the silver chains were the only thing that worked. He had some left over, so I asked if I could have them."

"We have Thestrals here?" asked Lily curiously. She had only read about them.

"Mmhmm. They pull the carriages," Maggie explained, sipping her coffee.

"Wow, that makes so much more sense…"

Rei looked at Lily. "Have the carriages being pulled by seemingly nothing been bothering you for three years?"

Lily grinned sheepishly. "It's just something I wondered about at the beginning of the school year. Unlike some people, I have better things to think about than Remus Lupin."

"Oi," Rei said and rolled her eyes. "If I had known that I would get nothing but mocked for three years, I never would have told you."

Maggie smirked. "Rei, you didn't have to tell us. We're fairly observant."

"How are things going with Rupert?" asked Minerva.

"He's, erm, very clingy."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you just ditch him?"

"Because Minerva gave me this brilliant idea…."

"You KNOW that you can't listen to anything I say when I'm reading!"

Maggie and Lily shared a knowing look. A noise came from the portrait hole and the girls fell silent, listening to see who was coming in. "Listen, Remus, if you're that upset about it, you know what to do, don't you? Ask her out before someone else does! Rei is attractive. I'm surprised she waited this long to start going steady with someone." Sirius was talking in a hushed tone, but the girls could still hear fairly well.

"But Rupert Wesson!" exclaimed Remus, exasperated. "What if he tries to make her do something - something ungentlemanly!" It sounded like the boys stopped walking and were standing in the shadows just before they entered the Common Room.

Sirius sighed. "Look, mate, no one can make Rei Scorch do anything she's uncomfortable with. Merlin, I hope Lily never dates anyone because I can't play love advisor to you and James!"

"James's issue is that he's never before met someone who can't stand him. He doesn't know how to act around Lily so he acts, well, you know."

"We really need to get that boy into see a counselor or something. Anyway, back on topic, Rei…"

Lily's jaw dropped. How outrageous! Rei grinned at Minerva and mouthed, 'See! It worked! You are brilliant!' Maggie and Minerva rolled their eyes.

"I'm so excited to go to Hogsmeade today!" Lily half-yelled, in order to alert the boys that they were not alone.

"Oh, yes, it will be most excellent!" Minerva said, also in a raised voice.

A few moments later, Remus and Sirius entered the Common Room. Lily noted that Remus's face was a bit more red than usual. "Good morning!" exclaimed Sirius brightly.

"Morning," replied the girls.

"How much longer do we have till Hogsmeade?" asked Sirius.

Remus checked his watch. "About an hour."

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" Sirius said, sitting down in front of the girls. To Lily's relief, Remus sat down as well. He was usually so shy, she was afraid that he would be embarrassed, thinking the girls may have heard his conversation with Sirius.

_**Maggie**_

Maggie said goodbye to the girls and smiled, noting that Remus and Rei were chattering away as they walked down the street. Outside Honeydukes, Maggie waited for Sirius. He was already running a little late. She was beginning to wonder if she'd the right choice when he sauntered up to her said, "Hey, Mags. Long time no see, what with this morning and all."

"Not long enough," grinned Maggie. Despite her better judgment, she liked hanging around with Sirius, Remus and even James sometimes.

Sirius grinned. "I was going to take you up to Puddifoot's, but I figured you'd be just as disgusted with the place as I am."

"I definitely would have had to dock points for that."

"Three Broomsticks then?"

"Sounds good." The two walked, a crisp breeze blowing in their faces. When Maggie shivered, Sirius gave her his black leather jacket. They entered the Three Broomsticks and Maggie heard someone sputter. She glanced to the left and saw Bruce, Sean and John sitting at a booth near the window. John was determinedly looked out of the window now, while Bruce and Sean raised an eyebrow at Maggie. Maggie shrugged at them. John was the one that broke up with her, not the other way around. Why should she feel guilty hanging out with someone else?

Sirius met Maggie at a booth on the opposite side of the room with two Butterbeers. "John's jealous. I think it's because you're wearing my jacket." Sirius always seemed aware of who was watching him (and whomever he was with).

"That's John's problem," Maggie rolled her eyes. If he was jealous of a jacket, that was just insane. If only she could rig it so that John would be at the party tonight. Then he'd be jealous. Maggie would be wearing a form-fitting silk red dress, strapless and floor length with a slit up to the thigh. Transfigured red horns and a tail would top off her outfit. Maggie shook hear head, clearing the thought. To make John mad via clothing was a very Rei idea. 'Maybe she's rubbed off on me too much,' Maggie thought to herself, trying not to grin. Soon enough though, her mind was completely off John. She and Sirius wound up having a good time just talking and joking around. A couple hours later when they left the Three Broomsticks, the booth where the other boys were was absent.

Maggie and Sirius walked down the street. After a few minutes, Maggie felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Someone was watching, no not watching, following her. The feeling was so intense that Maggie turned around. "What's wrong?" asked Sirius, also turning.

"I, well, nothing, I guess." No one strange was around, just Hogwarts students. Maggie shrugged and continued walking leaving Sirius looking bewildered. Once he caught up, the two entered a book store, Maggie's idea, not Sirius's. Maggie left Sirius in the hex section while she ran over to a section on fire spells for Rei, whose birthday was coming up soon.

"I'm glad to see you two are getting along," said a voice next to Maggie. She glanced over and saw a man, much taller than she was, with sky blue eyes and dark blonde hair. "It's been so long that I doubt you recognize me, though you have my eyes," he said thoughtfully.

Sylvester Selwyn, her "father". Maggie's eyes slanted in a glare. "Why are you here?"

"Well, since Isobel McGonagall won that silly custody battle and I haven't had a chance to appeal my case yet, this is the only time I'll get to see you."

"Maggie! You gotta see this!" Sirius bounded around the corner holding a book and stopped short when he saw Maggie's father. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Maggie's hand. "Actually, let's leave." He tugged Maggie out of the store before Sylvester or Maggie could say anything. "This is serious. We need to talk to McGonagall or Dumbledore about a restraining order. Or, hey! What about Bishop? He'd definitely know how to keep someone from finding you. I mean, unless, you want to see him…?" Sirius trailed off.

Maggie gaped. "Definitely not! I was just so shocked and angry."

Sirius turned Maggie to face him. "Hey, between me, the boys, Minerva, Rei, Lily and the professors, we can keep him away from you. Don't worry about anything, okay?" He gave her a hug. Maggie nodded. The two went to meet up with their other friends, keeping a casual eye over their shoulders the entire time.

_**Minerva**_

Minerva was having a hard time not smiling. Honeydukes was having a Halloween sale. She was in Hogsmeade with all her best friends, minus one, but she would be along soon enough. Plus, the costume party tonight! Minerva would be wearing a lavender princess gown that belled out at her waist. The strapless top laced in the back. A silver crown would top off her outfit, and she would be wearing purple shoes with peacock feathers on the back, for which Princess Regina was famous. Suddenly a sugar quill was right under her nose. "Come on, you know you want the bulk box," grinned Sean.

"I don't need the bulk box."

"You go through that many in a month anyway. You're a sugar addict."

"It's not like I have a _problem_ or anything."

"Denial is more than a river in Egypt." Sean smirked. "I'll get you the bulk box then, early Christmas present."

Minerva sighed. "Well, I guess that means I'll have to get you a present as well."

"You guess? I'm hurt you don't already have one."

"I never get presents till the week before. Maggie can tell you. It drives her mad."

"Speaking of," Sean pointed to the door where Maggie and Sirius walked in. The couple was soon tackled by Rei and then eventually Lily. Sirius laughed and then he and Remus began talking as they all made their way to Minerva and Sean. A few hours later, it was time to head back to the castle. The girls all said goodbye to the boys as they made their way up to the Room of Requirement to get dressed.

"So, Maggie, how did it really go with Sirius?" asked Rei curiously.

"It was great until we ran into my father."

Lily stopped midway as she was using a spell to elongate her canines. "What?" she demanded, lisping a little bit.

Minerva also stopped dressing and looked at Maggie. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I didn't want to ruin anyone's day. Besides, I'm going to talk to your mom and Dumbledore tomorrow morning about it. I figure between them and Bishop, we should be able to take care of it. Seriously, don't worry. I don't want this to ruin Halloween."

Lily finished her teeth. "That's so, ugh!"

"Come here so I can do your horns," Minerva said to Maggie, who obediently went over to her friend. Lily and Rei continued to mutter darkly under their breathe for a few minutes before they too, calmed down and finished getting ready at Maggie's request.

"Okay, so we had one story. Minerva, you and Sean hung out a good portion of the day," Rei said.

Minerva shrugged. "Sean, Maggie, erm used to be John, and I usually hung out all the time in Hogsmeade." She glanced at Maggie, wondering if she and John would ever get back together, or at least be friends. Maggie, apparently knowing what Minerva was thinking, just shrugged. Lily came over and began doing Minerva's hair, curling it and then topping it off with the sparkling crown.

Rei grinned. "Minerva, you should wear that dress more often. It's so pretty on you!"

Minerva grinned. "Thank you. You look quite lovely as well." Rei's orange dress was a bit to short for Minerva to pull off, but on Rei it worked.

Maggie pulled on a pair of black lace gloves. "I think we all look fantastic."

"I second that." Lily twirled in her dress, the crimson skirt and black cape flaring out. "Shall we?"

"Wait," said Minerva, "we need to make sure Filch isn't out there. He'll still try to get us in trouble." Minerva checked the coast and then the girls were off. They went through the passageway behind the witch statue, which Minerva had never been through before. Apparently it was a favorite of Maggie's. "Who on Earth is that?" Minerva whispered, seeing a few people ahead of them.

Rei squinted. "I'm not sure. I'm surprised they haven't seen us yet." Her wings cast a fiery glow on the stone walls. "One way to find out. OI!"

Four figures turned around, cursing. "Oh, it's only you," James Potter said, relieved. Minerva muttered "lumos" under her breath to give some more light in the tunnel. James was dressed as a pirate. Peter was a clown. Remus appeared to be dressed up as a Roman god while Sirius was interestingly enough, a monk.

"You idiots could get into so much trouble," Minerva sighed.

"You're here too!" exclaimed James.

Rei grinned. "We have permission."

"As much as I love standing around in a tunnel, what's say we all head up to Hogsmeade and continue arguing there?" Remus said quietly.

Lily sighed, linked arms with Minerva and off they went. Once they got on the main road, the sun was setting. The girls all pulled on masks, matching their costumes, and were surprised when the boys did the same. "We figured we would be less likely to be recognized as students this way," Remus commented.

"And by 'we' you mean you?" Minerva asked, smirking.

"Well, yes," smiled Remus.

_**Rei**_

Rei couldn't stop grinning. This Halloween had been fantastic already. Hogsmeade had been a blast. The girls were all having a good time. Remus had hung out with them most of the day. What could go wrong? Rei was also especially pleased with her costume. She wore gold flats that laced up to her knees and a short pale orange dress with a handkerchief hemline. Her wings completed the outfit. Rei noted James finding it hard to stop staring at Lily. It would take them forever to get together. 'Maybe Sirius and I could come up with something. He's pretty sketchy too,' Rei backlogged the thought. Best to give it another couple years and see what happened.

"You look pretty deep in thought," Maggie said, nudging Rei.

"I think it's just a phase. It shouldn't last long," joked Rei, earning a smile from Remus.

Eventually they got to the Three Broomsticks. The girls found a booth, while the boys got one right behind their's. It was already pretty crowded. Rosemerta was looking a little panicked as she came up to get drinks for the girls.

"What's wrong?" asked Rei.

"The band is going to be an hour late," sighed Rosemerta. "I guess I can just play the WWN until they get here, but people were really looking forward to live music."

"If you're okay with a bunch of anonymous girls, we could play," Lily said, clearly not thinking about it until it was too late. She went bright red under her mask. Minerva's jaw dropped and so did Maggie's.

"Oh, girls! I'd really owe you one!"

Grudgingly, Minerva nodded. "We'll do it."

Maggie and Rei exchanged a grin. "I thought we were the devil-may-care gals," Rei whispered. Remus, Sirius, James and Peter were looking at the girls with interest.

The girls went behind the curtained stage. "Lily, what made you say that?" asked Minerva, a bit breathless.

"I, well, I don't know! I was just thinking, I mean, even if we're horrible, who's going to know it's us? Besides, I don't want Rosemerta to loose business because the actual band is going to be late."

"Chivalrous reasoning," Maggie said. Minerva nodded.

Rei grinned. "I can't believe we're doing this! What should we sing first?" After a quick discussion they decided to start with a Halloween themed song and go from there. Once the curtain was up, they began.

_Rei: Very superstitious, Writing's on the wall, Very superstitious, Ladders bout' to fall, Thirteen month old baby, Broke the lookin' glass Seven years of bad luck, The good things in your past [Chorus - All]When you believe in things That you don't understand, Then you suffer, Superstition aint the way Hey Lily: Very superstitious, Wash your face and hands, Rid me of the problem, Do all that you can, Keep me in a daydream, Keep me goin' strong, You don't wanna save me, Sad is the soul [Chorus - All] When you believe in things That you don't understand, Then you suffer, Superstition ain't the way, Yeh, yeh Maggie: Very superstitious, Nothin' more to say, Very superstitious, The devil's on his way, Thirteen month old baby, Broke the lookin' glass, Seven years of bad luck, Good things in your past Minerva: When you believe in things That you don't understand, Then you suffer, Superstition ain't the way, No, no, no_

After the applause died down, the girls glanced at each other and shrugged. They played until Rosemerta's actual band showed up.

"Most impressive." The girls turned to see Professor Isobel McGonagall.

"Mom!" Minerva squeaked. "I didn't know you were going to be here!"

"Oh, I just came for a Butterbeer. Glad I did now." Her eyes twinkled. "You girls have fun, and don't stay out too late. Be careful coming back into the castle, you know how Argus gets." She swept outside.

Rosemerta made sure the girls had a booth. "Everything is on the house tonight. I can't thank you all enough!"

"That was fun!" exclaimed Rei.

Even Minerva was smiling. "You know, it really was."

"I'm impressed," said Sirius, pulling up a chair to the booth.

"Hey, we figured you left." Maggie said.

"And miss all of you on stage?"

"Yeah, right!" butted in James. "That was quite good." The girls, minus Lily, thanked him. Once the other band began to play, Remus shyly held out his hand for Rei so that they could dance. Rei beamed at him and pulled him onto the dance floor. This had to be the best Halloween yet.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter Fifteen: Fall to Winter…**_

_**Lily**_

A few days later, the girls were sitting out by the lake during lunch. Lily had been in a good mood since Halloween. Why shouldn't she be? Classes were going well; she had great friends. Severus had even stopped hanging around with all the jerk Slytherins (at least in front of her). All was right with the world. "Hey, Maggie, whatever happened with your father?" Lily asked, looking up from her Charms homework.

"Isobel sent a harassment complaint to the Ministry. Bishop suggested a spell that works kind of like a restraining order, if he comes near me, I'll have enough warning to send word that I need back up. Other than that, we can't do much, since he hasn't actually threatened me." Maggie shrugged. "I'm safe at Hogwarts."

Minerva sniffed. "You would think that with how advanced magic is these days we could have restraining orders that actually, I don't know, restrained."

Maggie grinned. "We'll get rich by coming up with that spell. Where's Rei at?"

"Oh, I was supposed to tell you that she's going to be late," Lily remembered. Rei had told her last class, during Potions. "She's using lunch today to break up with Rupert."

"Finally," sighed Minerva.

"Feeling guilty still?" teased Lily. Minerva glared. Lily tossed her quill down. "Done with Charms for the day."

"Professor Flitwick will be so proud," winked Maggie.

"Speaking of," Lily said, "have you seen John lately?" Lily had recently gotten the feeling that even though they weren't dating, Maggie missed John as her friend.

Maggie shook her head no. "I think he's been avoiding me since Halloween. Apparently he was perturbed that I was there with Sirius."

Minerva snorted. "That's his own fault!"

"That's what I said. It's not like we're really dating, anyway. We talk more than usual, but I'm beginning to think of him more as an annoying cousin than as a potential boyfriend." Maggie too, tossed down her quill. "Finished with Potions."

"Wish I was!" exclaimed Rei, seeming to appear, as usual, from no where in particular.

Lily grinned. "How did Rupert take the news?"

Rei shrugged. "He said he didn't care because he's dating Stella Allen, anyway. I told him good luck." She sat down, pulled off her shoes and stuck her feet in the lake.

"Who is Stella Allen?" asked Lily.

"Some second year, I think."

Maggie coughed something that sounded suspiciously like, "Statutory rape!"

"I don't think it is yet." Minerva pondered. "He's only fifteen."

"It's still weird to be dating a twelve year old."

"Well, you're dating a thirteen year old."

"I'm only fourteen and we're not dating!"

"Meh."

Maggie scooped up a bit of water from the lake and flicked it at Minerva. Minerva sputtered and then murmured a spell to take the water off her face and direct it at Maggie. Maggie, in turn, made wind come out of her wand and aimed it at Minerva.

"Okay, kids!" exclaimed Lily. "First order of business is, you two must teach me how to do that."

The result was that all four girls had to hurry up to the castle to change out of soaking wet robes. They were all laughing when they rounded the corner near the portrait of the Fat Lady. They came upon James Potter speaking to Peter Pettigrew.

"Yeah, I know. Snivellus is going to get it good tonight." He was saying with relish.

Lily fumed. James was all it took to ruin her good mood. "JAMES POTTER!" She yelled and grabbed him by the ear, twisting hard. "You leave Severus alone! This is getting stupid!"

"Yeah, okay, okay!" yelped James. "How about this? I'll leave him alone if you go to Hogsmeade with me."

"Moron, you don't ask a girl out that way," muttered Maggie.

Lily let out a frustrated little screech and went into the portrait hole, deliberately knocking into James. She stomped up to her dorm. Lily was just pulling on clean robes when the other girls came in. "Are you calm?" asked Minerva.

"Yes," Lily said with a sigh. "I just get so worked up! I really think Potter is seventy-five percent of the reason why Sev hangs around all those jerks!"

Rei bit her lip. "Lily, I have something to tell you. I didn't want to because he'd been doing so well recently, but I told myself that if it came up again I would," Rei began to ramble as she usually did when she had bad news.

"Rei," Minerva said quietly.

Rei paused and glanced at Minerva, then nodded. "Severus gave Mulciber the spell that he tried to use on Mary a few weeks ago."

Lily's jaw dropped. "What?" Severus had conveniently left that part out. She sat down on her bed. Rei sat at the foot of the bed and Maggie and Minerva took places on either side of Lily. "I, I just can't believe that."

"Well, you know it's always been an area of interest for him…" Maggie trailed off.

Lily stared out the window. "I wonder if he suggested the spell for Mary or if he just told Mulciber about it."

"Only one way to find out," Minerva said. "You have to confront him."

Lily nodded. "I guess I'll do it after Potions today."

After Potions, and her confrontation with Severus, Lily was in a horrible mood. Severus had given Mulciber the spell. He thought of it as just a prank. Lily had told Severus that she wouldn't make him choose between his friends and her, but that his other friends would. Lily disagreed with the other Slytherin boys. Their idea of humor was malicious. The pureblood mania was out of control. She heard what they whispered, or sometimes said very loudly, about Lily and others like her. Severus had pleaded with her, saying it was just a bit of fun. Lily gave him a look and walked away. She kicked at the wall before she entered the Great Hall. The last thing she wanted to do right now was be around a load of people. Sighing, she turned toward the kitchens. 'I'll have to catch the girls after dinner.' she thought.

To her surprise, she ran into John Flitwick, who was headed out of the kitchens. "Oh, hi, Lily."

"Hey, John," Lily said awkwardly.

"How are you?"

"I've had better days," Lily replied honestly.

John nodded. "I get that. Hope your day gets better." He turned to walk toward the Ravenclaw common rooms.

"John," Lily called.

He turned. "What?"

"You and Maggie were friends before you dated, right?"

"Well, yeah."

Lily fumbled with a quill she pulled from her pocket. "Don't you miss her? Even as a friend?"

John sighed. "Of course I do, but after how I acted, I doubt she'd want to talk to me."

"Don't rule it out." Lily turned and walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later she emerged again, only to be bombarded by Rei.

"You're coming with me, Evans!" Rei proceeded to drag Lily outside and to the edge of the lake. Lily saw that Rei, Maggie and Minerva had set up a picnic dinner. "I saw you after you talked to Severus and you didn't look happy, so I knew you wouldn't be at dinner."

Lily smiled. "I really do have the best friends."

"Hell yes, you do!" exclaimed Rei. They spent the rest of the night taking Lily's mind off Severus.

"You know, I was thinking," Maggie said, "if we're going to be performing we should have a name for the band."

"Might be a good idea," Minerva agreed.

The girls sat in silence for a minute before Lily piped up with "Ladies of the Lake. It has relevance to us since we're here all the time, plus it could be a take on King Arthur."

"I like it!" said Rei. Maggie and Minerva agreed.

_**Maggie**_

A couple weeks later found Maggie Mirranoy looking forward to the Christmas holidays more than usual. School work was piling on higher and higher for the fourth years as their teachers began to try and prepare them for their O.W.L.s next year. Not to mention, she was really annoyed with all the boys in her life. John was still acting like an idiot; Severus Snape was making Lily miserable. Maggie's father was a git. "I need a vacation," Maggie muttered, resting her head on her heavy History of Magic textbook.

"Me too," yawned Lily Evans, leaning back in her chair.

"Here, here." Rei added.

Minerva walked up, which Maggie didn't see as she was still facedown in her book. "You all look rather pathetic."

"Don't start with me, Minerva McGonagall."

"Fine. I won't tell you the good news then." Minerva sat down next to Rei.

"What is this good news?" demanded Lily.

Minerva pulled out a notebook and a quill. "Mum decided that she wanted to get away for the holidays, so we're going to visit America. Specifically, Florida."

Maggie grinned and lifted her head up. "Really?"

"No!" exclaimed Rei. "Lily and I had just decided that we were going to stay at Hogwarts to spend the winter hols with you two!"

Minerva looked surprised. "You're coming too. Didn't I say that?"

"Ah, this is just the incentive I needed to get through all this homework!" exclaimed Maggie. "Where in Florida?"

"Mum said Pensacola, I think. That way we're close to the beaches and the zoo."

Eventually, finally, the Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches found themselves in sunny Florida. They were staying in a hotel downtown with Minerva's brother, and Bruce. "It's so pretty here!" exclaimed Maggie, one afternoon, walking around with the girls. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, in December! How cool was that?

"It is," agreed Lily. The girls were on their way to the art museum a couple blocks from their hotel.

"Plus, it's so warm!" squealed Rei, almost dropping her ice cream cone in her excitement.

Minerva grinned. "I do feel a bit pasty next to the natives, though!"

Maggie laughed. "Hopefully we won't be as pale with in the next few days. Your mum mentioned going to the beach tomorrow since we're in a heat wave. Where's Bruce today?" Maggie asked, as if just remembering he was supposed to be on vacation with them.

"He mentioned going to somewhere with some friends that are vacationing close to us."

"Bruce has friends?" joked Rei.

Minerva shrugged. "A few. I am a bit worried about him though. A lot of the kids in his year are acting quite catty and causing a lot of drama. I think that's why he's been hanging around with us more. Not that I mind."

"Believe me, we don't either," laughed Lily. She and Rei had come to think of Bruce as an older brother as well. The girls continued walking until they reached the museum.

"Leave it to Minerva to make us do something educational on vacation," Rei joked.

Maggie grinned. "It's an art museum. It's educational and fun." They eventually migrated inside, viewing the exhibits without a tour because Maggie and Lily insisted it would be much better that way.

Maggie was looking at a seascape when she backed into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She turned and found herself facing Sean Somers. "Sean? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm visiting John and his mum."

"So you're the imaginary friends Bruce is meeting today?" Rei asked.

"Imaginary?" Bruce asked, walking toward the group, followed by John.

Great, thought Maggie. Let's add a healthy dose of awkward to Christmas. Keeping that thought to herself, Maggie smiled and said hello to the other two boys.

"Well!" exclaimed Sean, clapping his hands together once. "Since we're all here, we may as well make it a group thing." Bruce nodded, saying it seemed like a good plan. John, meanwhile, looked at his friends like they had recently grown a another head. Maggie glared at Bruce. He had known the girls were going to the art museum. He must have planned this, but why?

_**Minerva**_

Minerva shook her head at her brother. What was he up to? Granted, she should have known that the friends Bruce was meeting were Sean and John. John's mum lived a little ways outside Pensacola. It also wouldn't be Christmas without a lot of awkward moments to bring people together. In all honesty, Maggie was handling things much better than John, who was clearly nervous, uncomfortable, and fuming at Bruce. Bruce appeared not to notice. He acted as tour guide throughout the museum, earning him a lot of amused looks from other people. Minerva eventually found herself in the back of the group with Sean. "Did you know Bruce was doing this?" she asked him.

"I had a suspicion. It didn't seem wise to try and thwart Bruce's plan," grinned Sean.

Minerva snorted. "You're just as bad as he is."

"I am not."

"Meddler."

Sean looked devastated. "That wounds me."

Minerva rolled her eyes, but wasn't able to fight a smile. Regardless of the reason, it would be nice to have Sean and John around for Christmas. They were entertaining at the very least.

The next day, everyone was out at the beach. The Floridians clearly thought the Brits were crazy, but it was much warmer than home! "This is an entirely different kind of magic," Maggie said, standing knee deep in the ocean.

"You're insane! Get out before you get sick!" Minerva scolded.

Maggie laughed. "We didn't come all this way to just LOOK at the water did we?"

Rei joined Maggie in the water. "Minerva, it feels great! Warmer than the lake at school!"

"Your opinion doesn't count. You're naturally warm," Lily retorted.

Rei rolled her eyes. Minerva noted a few moments too late that Rei's gaze was fixated a little above her and Lily. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted in the air. A scream her right told her that Lily had as well. "No! Sean Sommers, I will attack you!" screeched Minerva, trying hard to wriggle out of his grasp. Sean just laughed as he dumped Minerva in the water. He clearly wasn't expecting her to pull him down with her.

Over Sean's sputtering and the other's laughter, Minerva heard Lily say, "Oh, it's actually not that bad."

Once Minerva got over her shock, she too had to admit that she'd been in much colder water. It didn't stop her from splashing Sean and pushing him down in the sand every chance she got though.

Up on the shore, Isobel McGongall muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Kids…." and then she went back to reading her book. Cassandra Flitwick simply laughed. She had come to give Isobel some adult company.

Eventually, everyone wound up playing an uneven game of volleyball, boys versus girls. Isobel and Cassandra agreed to referee, though they spent more time gossiping. To Minerva's surprise once she learned the rules, she was quite good at volleyball. Soon enough it was Maggie and Minerva against Sean and John. Everyone else was worn out. Though Minerva suspected it was actually that herself, Maggie, Sean and John were getting way too competitive.

"Okay, Min, if we let them win, we will never hear the end of it," Maggie said.

"Agreed. We must kick butt," replied Minerva. "You have a stronger serve, so you start. We'll wear them down early."

Minerva's plan worked perfectly, as usual. They were on their last point when Minerva hit the ball over the net and both boys missed it. "Yes!" screamed Maggie and Minerva, high-fiving. The other girls clapped and cheered.

"Good game," Sean and John said, shaking hands with Maggie and Minerva.

_**Rei**_

It was their last day in Florida and Rei was not happy to be going back to snowy, cold, wet England. "Can we just live on the beach?" she asked wistfully as the girls packed.

"What about school?" asked Minerva in shock.

"What about England?" piped in Maggie.

"What about Remi?" teased Lily with a grin, earning a smirk from Rei.

"Yes, yes, all very good reasons to not stay. However, I've decided that I belong in a warm climate. I mean I AM a FIRE fairy! It just makes sense."

"Well, really, you should be able to tolerate cold better since you can automatically heat yourself," reasoned Minerva.

Rei glared at her, "Stop being so practical!"

They laughed and finally finished packing. Isobel gathered up all the kids, including Sean and John, so that she could take them to the transport fireplace at one of the houses on the beach. Sean and John who had come via plane on their way in were surprised to see that they were at a house that looked exactly like a flying saucer- complete with a blow up alien in the central window. Isobel seemed to ignore their disbelief and went right up to the door. A small, petite woman with graying hair answered the door, "Yes?"

"Isosceles triangle," said Isobel matter-of-factly.

"Oh yes ma'am. Come right in." the woman stood back and allowed all of them to pass before looking both ways out the door, then shutting and dead-bolting it.

The inside of the house looked fairly normal, although it was filled with posters and cut outs of aliens, UFO's and lists of government conspiracies. Rei looked up with interest at the posters. _So odd that they don't move here. _And these must be some kind of American stars because she had never seen any of them before. The girls had recently learned that the UFO house was a well known landmark on Pensacola Beach. The woman led them all over to the fireplace and took a little jar off the mantle.

"Thank you so much!" said Isobel, paying the woman for use of her fireplace, as the woman threw some floo powder in.

Soon each of them was stepping out of the fireplace at the Three Broomsticks. Rosemerta had specially allowed them to use her personal fireplace so that they wouldn't have to travel too far from the school.

"Definitely the best vacation ever!" said Rei happily.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter Sixteen: Back to Hogwarts**_

_**Lily**_

The school was surprisingly quiet when they arrived back. Lily found this a bit unsettling. Even though the rest of the students weren't returning until tomorrow, the ghosts and other teachers were usually walking around. Isobel seemed to immediately sense that something was wrong. She told them to go up to their dorms to unpack and quickly walked in the direction of the teacher's lounge. All seven of them looked at each other and started following Isobel at a safe distance. Bruce flicked his wand and sent all of their stuff flying upstairs.

"Um, can you properly do that?" asked Rei skeptically.

"Of course!" said Bruce indignantly, but muttered, "It may just not end up exactly in your room."

"Hush! She'll hear us!" hissed Minerva in a very catlike way.

Isobel turned into the teacher's conference room and closed the door behind her. The seven kids squished together so that each of them could press an ear to the door.

"What's happened?" demanded Isobel.

"Oh hello, Isobel, how was your trip?" came Dumbledore's voice.

"It was lovely. Now stop stalling, Albus, I know something has happened."

"There's been an attack on the Wizarding village of Haeggleswin," started Professor Slughorn.

They heard a woman burst into sobs.

"There, there, Poppie, have some tea," murmured Professor Sinistra.

"How many?" asked Isobel.

"Everyone… the whole village," whispered Dumbledore. "Moody and the other Aurors got the tip off too late. By the time they got there, there was little they could do. There were some still alive, but died on the way to St. Mungos. Less than ten are still there and they are not expected to recover. The Cruciatus Curse was too strong."

The kids heard a thump, as though Isobel had just fallen into a chair. Lily felt her own heart tighten. _An entire village… destroyed. _Lily wondered exactly how many people had lived there. She tried to push the thought out of her mind, thinking that it might make her feel worse. She glanced at the others. Rei was openly crying. Minerva had a single tear rolling down her cheek. And although she couldn't see Maggie's face from this angle, she was sure she was crying as well, considering what had happened to her mother. They all stood to leave, except Bruce. Suddenly his face went white; he turned his back to them and swallowed hard. Sean and John stayed pressed against the door.

"Five Hogwarts students died there also," Dumbledore said barely a whisper. They stood in stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Isobel couldn't stand it any longer and asked who.

"Helena Hart, Joan Walters, Keiffer Gibbs, Paul Reaulou, and … and ….. Mary … Mary McDonald."

It was as if time stood still. Lily felt frozen. She had known Mary quite well and considered her a good friend. It was surreal to think that she wouldn't be seeing her in classes or having lunch with her, or chatting in the…

"NO!" Lily's thoughts were pierced by a high-pitched shriek from Rei. Every single teacher in the conference room burst out with their wands poised, immediately lowering them when they realized it was Rei.

Rei kept muttering things like, "No, no, not Mary. It can't be true. They can't all be… no, no, no…."

Isobel looked torn between irritation and compassion. She made her way to Rei and hugged her as tight as she could.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "This is certainly a tragedy for every one of us in the Wizarding community. Some of us are affected more than others, and I am sorry this has touched so many of you so deeply this early in your young lives." He stared directly at Rei. "We all handle these things differently. It is important to grieve, but also, to never forget your loved ones and to remember why they died. Make them proud of you."

_Geez, he sounds like he's trying to get us to join an army.. _thought Lily. Little did she know that he was trying to prepare them for what was to come.

_**Maggie**_

That night, Maggie and Minerva slept in Lily and Rei's dormitory with them. Rei had been unusually quiet since her outburst in the hall. Lily lay in Rei's bed with her while Minerva and Maggie shared Lily's bed. Maggie lay awake, staring at the ceiling, wishing that there were some spell or magic phrase that could make emotional pain go away. Maggie sighed before she turned on her stomach to sleep. Time is the only fool-proof healer.

The next morning, Maggie was awoken by Minerva clambering out of bed. She decided to let the younger girls slumber while they were able and followed Minerva back to their own dormitory. "You're up early," Maggie said by way of greeting.

Minerva yawned. "I got an early owl from Malcolm, my half brother."

"He doing all right?"

Minerva nodded. "He's transferring to Hogwarts now that," she paused, "that there are some spots open."

"Wow, really?"

"He wants to get to know me and Bruce. He's been feeling really terrible about having to lead a double life because of my father's job. I think he feels like my father married a Muggle to lessen his chances of having Wizard children. Since Malcolm is the only one with magic he never really feels at home. He thinks Hogwarts will give him that and I can't help but agree. "

Maggie smiled. "We all find home at Hogwarts. Plus, he'll have two great siblings looking out for him."

"Three," Minerva grinned. "You are official family."

"Well in that case, five siblings. If we don't add in Lily and Rei, they'll get upset."

"Too true. I'm hoping it won't be too weird on Mum."

"Isobel is mature. I'm sure she'll handle it fine."

Minerva nodded as she pulled a red sweater over her head. "I wonder if Malcolm will be in Gryffindor."

"I'd guess Gryffindor or Ravenclaw if he's anything like you and Bruce."

"It is awfully brave to come from Beauxbatons to a completely new place. He's already in his second year. It'll be like he's starting over."

"Between the Sisterhood and Bruce, I'm sure Mal will be just fine."

Later that night, the entire school was back from the winter holidays and in the Great Hall for dinner. Professor Dumbledore stood up and explained to the school what happened in the small village of Haeggleswin. When Rei and Lily started to look teary eyed, Minerva and Maggie took their hands. Bruce and Sean's fists were clenched. Over at the Ravenclaw table, John's knuckles were white and he refused to look at anyone. Other students began were crying. "However," continued Dumbledore, "there is some light in this dark time. We have five new students joining us at Hogwarts. I expect everyone to do their best to make our transfers feel at home."

Dumbledore sat as Professor McGonagall ushered in five new students. Malcolm McGonagall, tall and gangly, stood out. His blue eyes were framed by shaggy blonde hair. He spotted the Sisterhood at the Gryffindor table quickly, having met everyone a couple summers ago. Rei and Lily seemed to cheer up a bit at seeing him.

Malcolm was the last to get sorted. The hat sat on his head for a mere ten seconds before shouting, "RAVENCLAW!" Malcolm shrugged at Minerva and Bruce. The two of them gave Malcolm encouraging smiles and a thumbs-up.

Minerva leaned over to Maggie and whispered, "You were right."

Maggie nodded . "He's in good hands," she said, seeing John introduce himself to Malcolm and then to some other Ravenclaws in second year. Despite the initial awkwardness, Maggie was glad to have spent time with John over the holiday. She really had missed him. Maybe tonight she would gather the courage to talk to him. See if they could be friends again. After all, that was what they were first and foremost.

_**Minerva**_

Minerva was a little disappointed that Malcolm was in Ravenclaw, but as dinner went on, she eventually decided it was for the best. It's not like they wouldn't make time to see each other. Maybe she could even sneak him into the Gryffindor Common Room sometime to socialize with the Sisterhood and Bruce. She looked to the Ravenclaw table to see that John was still keeping an eye on Malcolm to make sure he didn't need anything. A little overprotective, but not as bad as she or Bruce would be. Maggie was right, Malcolm was in good hands.

After dinner, Minerva and Bruce quickly ran over to Malcolm. "Are you upset?" he asked quietly

"No, not at all. The Sorting Hat usually knows best," Bruce smiled.

Minerva nodded. "I was almost in Ravenclaw. I was a Hat Stall."

Malcolm nodded. "I know it's tragic, what happened, but I'm really glad I could be here."

"Light in darkness," sighed Minerva, hugging Malcolm, who smiled, hugging her back.

"Mal!" yelled Rei, as she Lily and Maggie found their way to the McGonagall siblings. Everyone talked until Malcolm let out a yawn, finally admitting he was exhausted. John came up and offered to show Malcolm the way to the Ravenclaw Common Room. The Gryffindors waved good-bye and promised to see both boys in the morning.

A few weeks later, things had settled into some semblance of normalcy. Malcolm always had lunch with Bruce and Minerva. He was really enjoying himself in Ravenclaw. Bruce's attention had been on the Hufflepuff table lately. Minerva suspected he had developed a crush on Pomona Sprout after she saved him from a fanged geranium a couple weeks ago. The way Bruce told it, the plant had almost bitten off his hand. In any case, it was unusual for Bruce not to have a girlfriend, so Minerva figured it was about time he asked someone out again. Pomona was always nice to her.

Minerva yawned as she made her way to the Room of Requirement. It was a band practice night. Things were going quite well for the Ladies of the Lake. Rosemerta had agreed to let the girls play weekends over the summer, as they would all be staying at Hogwarts with Isobel and Minerva. As time went on, Minerva discovered that she really did enjoy playing music and singing. Tonight, they were working a fun song Maggie and Rei had come up with.

Maggie started strumming her guitar; it sounded a little more country than usual. She opened her mouth and sang, "Well, I've been saved by the grace of southern charm. I got a mouth like a sailor and yours is more like a hallmark card. If you wanna pick a fight, well I'm gonna have to say good night. I don't have to be hateful, I can just say 'bless your heart'."

Lily jumped in with, "And even though I don't belong with your high life friends, doesn't mean we don't get together and try to make amends. It's easier can't you see, let's agree to just disagree. We don't have to like each other but it's sure fun to pretend."

"So, let's shake hands and reach across those party lines," sang Rei. "You got your friends just like I got mine. We might think a little differently, but we got a lot in common you will see. We're just like you, only prettier."

Grinning, Minerva joined in, "Everybody says you gotta know you your enemies, even if they only weigh a hundred pounds and stand five foot three. If you just smile and behave you could always get your way. It's a universal plan that'll get you where you can in all societies."

All four sang, "So, let's shake hands and reach across those party lines. You got your friends just like I got mine. We might think a little differently, but we got a lot in common you will see. We're just like you, only prettier."

The girls exchanged a look and quickly began laughing. "I think this is one of my favorites," Lily said.

"Here here!" Rei said, toasting a Butterbeer.

"When did you two concoct this one?" asked Minerva, amusedly looking at the sheet music.

Maggie groaned. "After one of Slughorn's parties!"

"This really rude seventh year from Hufflepuff was making a huge fuss about how much money her parents had, and acting like she was better than everyone," sighed Rei.

"How did we miss this?" asked Lily.

"You two were late and Slughorn accosted you at the door," Maggie refreshed their memories.

"Oh. Heh."

"Anyway, she was very rude to myself and Maggie, for no apparent reason, other than we didn't moon over her jewelry or throw rose petals everywhere she walked."

"And then Rei elbows me and says, 'You know, I bet we could find some common ground. We're probably just like her, only prettier'."

"Oh, so that's what you two were laughing about when we arrived?" asked Lily.

"Yes," said Maggie and Rei together.

Minerva laughed. "I like it. It's cheeky and it's fun." She easily transitioned into the next song. "Do you ever feel it, when people get unkind. You can hear it in their voices, they've got poison on their minds."

Rei added, "Though ignorance should never be excused. I'll do my best to shake off their attitudes."

"I'm walking away again, but there's one thing," Lily sang.

"That will make me take a stand," added Maggie before everyone joined in for the chorus.

"If my sister's in trouble, I will always help her out. If my sister's in trouble, I'm will turn the world around. I will fight for her rights, no matter where the trouble seems to lie. If my sister's in trouble so am I. If my sister's in trouble so am I. So am I."

After a short musical break, Maggie began again, "All across the land, young people are walking blind, but when the heat comes down, I'll be standing by your side."

Rei sang, "I am there for you, like you are there for me."

Lily added, "Nothing feels as good as a sister's loyalty."

"I'm talking about family and what my sister means to me," sang Minerva. They did the chorus one more time.

"I hate to sound conceited, but we're pretty talented," Rei mused.

The others laughed. "We're decent," Minerva said.

"Always critical," sighed Rei.

"There's always room for improvement," winked Minerva.

_**Rei**_

Rei sighed, wishing that they could stay in the Room of Requirement forever and forget that they were growing up and people kept dying. And forget that there was supposedly nothing they could do about it. Rei thought about Mary and Maggie's mother and all the others everyday. She fretted about her own father, an Auror. Rei increasingly talked to Maggie about it, since Maggie knew what it was like. They both knew that the instant they turned 17, they too would be fighting dark wizards.

Rei's musings were interrupted by Minerva throwing a pillow on to her face. "Thanks for that," Rei said and promptly chucked it at Lily.

"Hey!" Soon they all collapsed into the usual (semi)late night hysterical giggles. Pillows were strewn all over the room, covering every inch of the floor. All the girls lay in different areas than where they were previously. Maggie had several white feathers stuck in her hair, while Minerva and Lily were covered. Rei tried and failed to pluck a few from her robes. Why had the room provided feather pillows? Another mystery to file away for another day.

"Oh, no," Maggie said a few minutes later, looking like she just found out Gertrude, her bat, had been killed.

"What?"

Maggie pouted. "We're out of Butterbeer…"

"Hogsmeade run!" exclaimed Rei, jumping up and disturbing the feathers.

Minerva shrugged. "Lily and I can take everything back to the Common Room and we can continue there, as long as we're quiet. Then we'll be less likely to be caught out of bed. I'm not tired yet either."

"Sounds good to me," Lily grinned. "I still owe everyone a pillow in the face."

Maggie stood up next to Rei. "All right. We'll meet you in the Common Room."

Rei and Maggie quickly darted through the shadowy corridors until they reached a passageway. "You know," whispered Maggie, "this is probably the last fun night Minerva will let herself have for a while. Exams are coming up in a couple weeks."

"Don't remind me," groaned Rei. "A few of my friends in Ravenclaw are trying to force me into a study group already. I usually do better studying on my own anyway. I'm too easily distracted in a group."

"Don't I know it," joked Maggie. She laughed when Rei elbowed her, scowling.

"Is it just me or does this tunnel keep getting longer?"

"You're just out of shape."

"I'm carrying holiday weight."

"A month later?"

"Oh, leave me alone, Maggie," laughed Rei.

The girls eventually arrived at the Three Broomsticks. They were planning on just getting a large case of Butterbeer to stock up. Maggie held the door open for her and once inside, Rei's eye was drawn to a corner booth where she saw a familiar face. "Breaux?" she whispered, almost not daring to believe it. Rei turned to tell Maggie but then saw that Maggie was already on her way to the corner booth. "Well, fine," huffed Rei, hurrying over.

"Just got back," Breaux was saying.

"Where have you been?" asked Rei. "We've missed you."

Breaux smiled. "I've missed you all too. I was doing some work for Dumbledore, gathering information in Albania."

"On?" prodded Rei, sitting down in the booth.

"Maybe when you're a couple years older," sighed Breaux. "Aren't you supposed to be in school right now anyway?" She raised an eyebrow. Rosemerta winked and set down two Butterbeers for Maggie and Rei, who thanked her.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Come on, Breaux. Are you at least coming up the castle tomorrow?"

Before Breaux could answer, the quiet night was shattered by someone screaming outside and then a lifeless body flying into the shop door. Rei grabbed her brooch, mouth wide open. She and Maggie exchanged a look before Breaux shoved them both under the booth.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter Seventeen: The Fight at Hogsmeade**_

_**Lily**_

Lily checked the clock on the wall. "They're taking a long time, aren't they?"

"Maybe Rei got distracted? We would have heard if they'd gotten caught on the way back."

"I have a weird feeling."

"Weird like sick, or weird like…weird?"

"Weird weird." Lily sat down next to Minerva and then Rei's voice burst forth from their brooches.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but Maggie and I are in the Three Broomsticks. Hogsmeade is under attack. Send help."

As one, Lily and Minerva ran outside the Common Room, straight to Isobel's office, through the tapestry and into her private quarters. "MUM!" screamed Minerva.

"What is it?" demanded Isobel, jumping out of bed, alarmed.

"Hogsmeade is under attack." Minerva and Lily said together.

"What? How do you even, you know what. I don't want to know. Get back to the Common Room."

"No! Maggie and Rei are there!" exclaimed Lily, wand already in hand.

Isobel's eyes narrowed. "And the adults will be the ones to bring them home. Go back to Gryffindor tower." Isobel dashed outside, calling for the other teachers.

Minerva folded her arms. Lily glanced at her. "So, give them a thirty second head start?"

"Sounds good."

Lily and Minerva took off to one of the secret passageways, careful to avoid teachers. It appeared that half of them were staying to guard the school and the other half were going to Hogsmeade. "We can't just stay in. It's two of our best friends for Merlin's sake," Minerva kept muttering under her breath.

"Minerva. If you don't stay calm, I will Stun you," Lily said with a steady voice even though her hands were shaking.

Minerva looked at Lily and nodded. There were things more important than rules or getting expelled at stake tonight. Lily took a deep breath. "All right. Rei said they were at the Three Broomsticks. Do you think they would have moved?"

"If forced, probably."

"There seemed to be a lot of commotion. It was hard to hear Rei over it."

"Whoa…" Minerva said, looking down.

"What?" asked Lily.

"We have to go left once we reach Hogsmeade."

"What? How do you know?"

"I just, I just know. I think the brooch is telling me."

At this point, Lily knew better than to question anything, brooches or Minerva. "Ok. We'll go left." Lily flung out her arm to stop Minerva from stepping out into the light as a green spell shot in front of them. They waited in silence for the caster of the spell to move past them. Lily felt something warm on her chest and looked down to see her brooch. She too felt like she knew exactly where Maggie and Rei were. "Is there a spell we can use to blend in with our surroundings?"

Minerva nodded, pointed her wand at Lily and whispered, "Misceo!" before doing the same to herself. Like chameleons, Lily and Minerva moved where the brooches led them until they came to a split. "Maggie and Rei must have had to separate," murmured Lily.

"We need to stick together," Minerva said.

"I agree. Which way first?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Maggie<strong>_

Merlin. This was what they got for breaking the rules, Maggie thought. She was currently being carried by a masked Deatheater, though she was still fighting tooth and nail. Her wand had been taken from her. Instead of panicking, Maggie told herself to calm down. Find a weapon, she thought. Her hands were bound behind her back and she was now thrust into a sitting position in a back alley. Maggie spied a nail protruding from the wall and moved in front of it, working the bindings off her wrists. Apparently the Death Eaters hadn't thought she was enough of a threat to Stun her.

"Ok, we've got Selwyn's daughter. The others just have to capture Breaux then we can meet the Dark Lord."

Maggie felt disgusted. Her father wanted her kidnapped and Voldemort called himself 'Dark Lord'? Egomaniacs. Men. She knew she should be scared, but it was hard with her brooch warm against her throat on its silver chain. The girls were bringing help. She knew it. And Rei was with Breaux. She knew that they would be fine.

Maggie slowly continued working the nail into the ropes that bound her wrists. Eventually she felt it snap free. Though the men were paying her no attention, she kept an eye and an ear to them while she untied her feet.

"I'm surprised that the Imperius Curse has lasted this long on Selwyn."

"The Dark Lord did threaten to kill his daughter if he didn't comply. I suppose the curse was insurance."

An Imperius Curse? Maggie raised an eyebrow. Maybe her father wasn't actually crazy? She shook her head to clear the thought. She couldn't worry about that right now. She had to focus on getting back to Rei. Suddenly, Maggie felt her brooch send out a warm pulse through her body. Rei was in the Hog's Head. The Death Eaters were still preoccupied with each other, so they didn't notice when Maggie slipped away into the darkness.

Quickly and silently, Maggie headed toward the Hog's Head, no thought in her mind other than getting to Rei, when a hand clapped over her mouth and someone grabbed her by the waist. She felt herself be pulled into a dark alley.

"Shh, it's us," breathed a voice in her ear.

Recognizing Lily's voice, Maggie almost punched her in the stomach for scaring her so badly. "You heard Rei through the brooch?" Maggie whispered.

"Yes. Half the teachers are here too. Where are you headed?"

"The Hog's Head. Rei is there."

"I am feeling so grateful for these brooches right now," sighed Minerva as she cast the chameleon spell on Maggie too. "Oh! I found this." Minerva handed Maggie her wand. Together the girls went to the Hog's Head and hid in an alley to access the situation.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Minerva<strong>_

It looked like Death Eaters were swarming the place. Minerva spotted Breaux outside, not moving. Rei lay tied up beside her. 'Merlin. I hope she's just Stunned,' Minerva thought. She elbowed Maggie suddenly and whispered, "Isn't that your father?"

Maggie nodded, her brows furrowed. Her father's eyes looked glassy, like they had back when she'd seen him in Hogsmeade earlier in the year. Was he under a curse? "What are they doing?"

Minerva shrugged, eyes on Breaux as she began to stir. "Thank Merlin," Lily breathed.

A Death Eater raised his wand at Breaux. "Why won't you just die already?"

Several things happened at once. Maggie gave a lion-like roar and ran from her hiding spot, shoving Breaux out of the way of a Crutiatus Curse, crumbling to the ground herself in the process. Minvera's jaw dropped. She and Lily ran after Maggie. Two wands were better than none.

The Death Eater groaned. "More to kill. Pity to waste magical blood."

Maggie's father turned to look at the Death Eater and his eyes became less glassy. "No."

"IMPERIO!" The masked Death Eater yelled.

Maggie's father stumbled, but kept going toward the Death Eater. He stopped an inch in front of the masked man's face. "Not my daughter," he whispered. Before the Death Eater could do anything else, Sylvester Selwyn grabbed the other man's wand and stunned him. In a rage, he quickly did the same to the other Death Eaters. He sent blue sparks into the sky then made his way over to his daughter.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" screamed Minerva, shielding Maggie with her own body. What was going on? They had all thought Selwyn was a bad guy.

Selwyn nodded and then slumped onto the ground, exhausted.

"Idiot children," muttered Breaux.

"See if I ever save you again," Maggie moaned.

Minerva, hands shaking, untied Rei, who was nearly foaming at the mouth with outrage. "When I get untied you are all in for a serious a-" At that moment Isobel McGonagall came running up. Minerva, who had never been so happy to see her mother in her life, started crying, glad everyone was alive.

The girls sat in numb silence while Isobel and Breaux began sorting everything out. Dumbledore arrived shortly after Isobel; he didn't seem surprised to see any of the Gryffindor girls there. Minerva wondered, not for the first time, if he knew absolutely everything. Listening in to the adults' conversation, Minerva gathered that for the past 10 years, Voldemort had been blackmailing/Imperiusing Maggie's father. She and Maggie exchanged an exhausted look. Would this night ever end?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Rei<strong>_

The Sisterhood of the Enchanted Brooches, Isobel, Breaux, Selwyn (Maggie's father), Dumbledore, and several other people Rei didn't know crowded into the Hogwart's staff room. The girls held hands, not sure if they should be worried, crying, relieved or happy.

"I cannot believe you two would sneak out in the first place, and then Minerva and Lily! Following all of us after I specifically told you not to! You could have been killed."

"Well, think they wanted to convert us.." mumbled Rei, earning herself an elbow to the ribs from Maggie.

"Detentions for all of you for a month!" yelled Isobel, blowing her nose into a handkerchief.

"Also, fifty points to Gryffindor each," Dumbledore added softly. When everyone looked at him in amazement, he said, "All four girls illustrated extraordinary courage tonight."

"Thank you?" said Rei, totally dazed.

Dumbledore nodded. "You're quite welcome. Now, let us old people talk amongst ourselves. You may return to Gryffindor tower and report to Isobel tomorrow for the start of your detentions."

More than a little overwhelmed, the girls stood as one and exited the staff room. "I feel like," Rei trailed off, unable to think of anything to say for once.

"Like you want to sleep for a week because you can't begin to process what just happened?" Minerva suggested.

Rei bobbed her head in agreement. "That's it. That's exactly it."

Back in the Gryffindor Common Room, the girls gathered around the dying fire. "The teachers said they were going to try and keep the Hogsmeade attack quiet," Maggie whispered.

"Well, if it's a secret the whole school will know by breakfast," replied Rei.

"True," Lily agreed.

"I guess we can do our part and keep our mouths shut."

"How are we going to explain Gryffindor's extra 200 points?" Maggie asked.

When even Minerva didn't have an answer, Rei knew she must be exhausted. "Why do we have to explain it? Mum's the word. We saw nothing, we know nothing."

Once the other girls went to bed, Rei snuck back down to the common room to be near the fire. It was where she felt most comfortable and safe. Eventually she drifted off, having strange dreams.

_Four people walked up to the huge castle. "Wow," said the younger of the two women. The young man beside her nodded in agreement. "It looks just how you described it, you know, minus all the damage." What happened at Hogwarts? Rei wondered._

_The older woman nodded. With a bit of a shock, Rei realized it was Maggie. She had to be at least twenty years older. Her blue eyes were tinged with red from crying. "I always imagined coming home, but I never thought it would be like this." The wind blew her chocolate curls around her face._

_The man beside her, around the same age, put his arm around her. "Me too, Mags," he said. John Flitwick was still the tallest of the group. He kissed the top of Maggie's head and Rei noticed their wedding rings. John's was a simple white gold band, while Maggie's was a sapphire surrounded by a diamond band._

_"Fayolyn?" the younger man said, taking her hand. The younger woman was looking down, her chestnut hair falling in her face. Rei raised an eyebrow. Fayolyn was what she planned to name her daughter if she ever had one._

_The two had the same amber eyes, which met as Fayolyn looked up. "I just thought we'd get to see him one more time, Kaji." Illemar Karadur sighed and hugged his twin. 'I did too,' he thought to himself. Illemar, Kaji only to his sister, ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. Rei tilted her head to the side. These would obviously be her kids, but they also looked like, no, it couldn't be. She also wondered why she could hear inside the heads of the twins. Weird._

_Maggie linked her arm with Fayolyn as they walked. The four came to the entrance of the castle, which was being guarded by Minerva McGonagall, who for some reason was looking as old as her mother would be during this time. "Minnie!" exclaimed Maggie, breaking free from the group and running to Minerva. Minerva gave an exhausted cry and embraced Maggie, weeping._

Rei awoke like she'd been struck by lightning. Where had she and Lily been during the dream? Were they both dead? Is that why her children were with Maggie? Would it really take that long for the war against Voldemort to be over? She shivered. She had to write to her mom and ask about prophecy dreams.


End file.
